Episode 21: The Profession of Arms: Defining Military Professionalism
Guest
Jonathan Romaneski, Marybeth Ulrich
Files
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Description
How do we define military professionalism, and what makes a military professional? This episode of Strategy Matters explores this important topic, interwoven with many of the themes and the historical cases in the Strategy and War course. The host, Dr. Vanya Eftimova Bellinger, talks with two professors at the Strategy and Policy Department who specialize in the topic: Dr. Marybeth Ulrich and LTC Jonathan Romaneski, Ph.D. To lay the groundwork for a better understanding of military professionalism, the episode begins with a brief theoretical and historical review. Then it explores ongoing challenges surrounding the issue: from civilian oversight and the so-called unequal dialogue between the political and military realms to free speech and the military’s neutral role in the state. It ends with a discussion of why military professionalism matters in the 21st century.
GUESTS:
Dr. Marybeth Ulrich is a professor and chair of the Strategy and Policy Department. Her publications include Democratizing Communist Militaries: The Cases of the Czech and Russian Armed Forces (University of Michigan Press). Her research focuses on strategic studies, democratization, Eurasian security, NATO, and civil-military relations. Appointments as Senior Fellow at the U.S. Air Force Academy and West Point’s Modern War Institute focus on education for military service in a democracy. She received her Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Illinois and is a Distinguished Graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy. She is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Lt. Col. Jonathan Romaneski, PhD, is an Army Aviation officer. He graduated from James Madison University in 2005, where he majored in history. His operational experience includes multiple combat deployments to Baghdad and to RC-South, Afghanistan, as well as six years in Germany and an AH-64D battalion command in Fort Wainwright, AK. He earned his master’s and Ph.D. in military history from The Ohio State University, with minors in the early American Republic and diplomatic history. He has prior teaching experience in military and international history at West Point.
The opinions expressed on this podcast represent the views of the presenters and do not reflect the official position of the Department of War, the US Navy, or the US Naval War College.
Episode Length
39:13
File Size
31 MB
File Format
MP3
Release Date
9-11-2026
Keywords
U.S. Naval War College, Strategy and Policy, S&P, Strategy Matters, Military Professionalism, Civil-Military Relations, Civilian Control of the Military, Officership, Profession of Arms, Samuel Huntington, Unequal Dialogue, Military Ethics.
Recommended Citation
Bellinger, Vanya Eftimova, "Episode 21: The Profession of Arms: Defining Military Professionalism" (2026). Strategy Matters Podcast. 21.
https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/strategy-matters/21
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