The Chaplain Corps of the United States Navy consists of clergy who are commissioned naval officers. Their principal purpose is to "promote the spiritual, religious, moral, and personal well-being of the members of the Department of the Navy," which includes the Navy and the United States Marine Corps. Additionally, the Chaplain Corps provides chaplains to its sister sea service, the United States Coast Guard.
They share in the difficulties and rewards of Navy life. The Chaplain Corps consists of clergy endorsed from ecclesiastical bodies, providing assistance for all Navy, Marine Corps, Merchant Marine, and Coast Guard personnel and their families. Navy chaplains come from a variety of religious backgrounds; chaplains are Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox, Jewish, Muslim, and Buddhist.
Chaplains have non-combatant status and do not have the right to participate directly in hostilities. In the U.S. they are prohibited from carrying weapons. Chaplains are assisted by Navy enlisted personnel in the Religious Program Specialist (RP) rating, when available. Otherwise, a variety of personnel in the Marine Corps, Navy, and Coast Guardâ€"as applicableâ€"may support unit chaplains. RPs who are combatants, also serve as the armed protection for chaplains in combat and other operational environments. Since RPs are enlisted, the Chaplain Corps, while protective of them, does not "own" the rating.
History
The history of the Chaplain Corps traces its beginnings to 28 November 1775 when the second article of Navy Regulations was adopted. It stated that "the Commanders of the ships of the thirteen United Colonies are to take care that divine services be performed twice a day on board and a sermon preached on Sundays, unless bad weather or other extraordinary accidents prevent." Although chaplains were not specifically mentioned in this article, one can infer that Congress intended that an ordained clergyman be part of ship's company.
United States Navy Chaplain Corps was established on 28 November 1775.
The Continental Navy, predecessor of the United States Navy, was approved by the Second Continental Congress on 13 October 1775. It was administered by a Marine Committee of three members later expanded to seven members. The Navy Regulations adopted by the Marine Committee on 28 November 1775 mirrored those of the Royal Navy.
The second article of the Navy regulations of 1775 read: "The Commanders of the ships of the thirteen United Colonies, are to take care that divine service be performed twice a day on board, and a sermon preached on Sundays, unless bad weather or other extraordinary accidents prevent." Although the chaplain is not mentioned in this article, the reference to a sermon implies that Congress intended that an ordained clergyman be on board. The first mention of a chaplain in the Journals of the Continental Congress refers to his share in the distribution of prize money. On 6 January 1776 Congress passed a resolution detailing the prize share percentages and includes distribution of a portion to the chaplain. On 15 November 1776, Congress fixed the base pay of the chaplain at $20 a month. The first chaplain known to have served in the Continental Navy was the Reverend Benjamin Balch, a Congregational minister, whose father had served in a similar capacity in the Royal Navy. Benjamin Balch's son, William Balch, is the first chaplain known to have received a commission in the US Navy after the department was established in 1798.
Qualifications
The Navy accepts clergy from religious denominations and faith groups. Clergy must be endorsed by an approved endorsing agency. Once endorsed, clergy must meet requirements established by the Department of the Navy including age and physical fitness requirements. A chaplain's ecclesiastical endorsement can be withdrawn by the endorser at any time, after which the chaplain is no longer able to serve as a chaplain.
Qualified applicants must be US citizens at least 21 years old; meet certain medical and physical fitness standards; hold a bachelor's degree, with no less than 120 semester hours from a qualified educational institution; and hold a post-baccalaureate graduate degree, which includes 72 semester hours of graduate-level coursework in theological or related studies. At least one-half of these hours must include topics in general religion, theology, religious philosophy, ethics, and/or the foundational writings from one's religious tradition. Accredited distance education graduate programs are acceptable. However, according to Program Authorization 110 2/3rds of the degree must be done in residence at the graduate level.
Chaplains then attend the Navy Chaplain School at Ft. Jackson, South Carolina, at the Armed Forces Chaplaincy Center (AFCC).
The Navy has a "Chaplain Candidate Program Officer" (CCPO) Program for seminary students interested in obtaining a commission before completing their graduate studies.
The Naval Chaplaincy School and Center (NCSC) is part of the Armed Forces Chaplaincy Center (AFCC), which also includes the US Army Chaplain Center and School (USACHCS) and the US Air Force Chaplain Service Institute (AFCSI). The 3 schools are co-located at Fort Jackson, in Columbia, SC. NCSC's first graduating class â€" consisting of 29 chaplains and chaplain candidates â€" graduated on 6 November 2009. NCSC is the successor of the Naval Chaplains School, which relocated in mid-August 2009 from Newport, RI, due to the 2005 decision of the Base Realignment and Closure Commission to put all military ministry training at the same location. NCSC's new name reflects its new mission of training Navy chaplains and Religious Program Specialist (RPs) in the same place. Until recently, RPs had been trained at NTTC Meridian, MS.
The AFCC is designed to foster closer cooperation between the 3 Chaplain Corps and to facilitate shared instruction and training.
Mission
The mission of the Chaplain Corps is:
- PROVIDE religious ministry and support to those of our own faith.
- FACILITATE for all religious beliefs.
- CARE for all Marines, Sailors and their family and friends.
- ADVISE commanders to ensure the free exercise of religion.
Priorities
- Promote ethical and moral behavior throughout the Sea Services.
- Ensure religious ministry enhances current readiness.
- Think strategically for future readiness.
- Employ Reserve religious ministry assets more effectively.
- Realign assets to improve religious ministry for operational forces.
- Improve recruitment and retention.
- Enhance external and internal communications.
- Leverage technology to support the mission.
Guiding principles
The guiding principles are:
- We are faithful to our individual religious traditions and practices.
- We respect the right of others to hold spiritual beliefs and religious practices different from our own
- We cooperate and collaborate in ministry.
- We are committed to the highest standards of morality and personal integrity.
- We are committed to professionalism in the performance of duty.
Vision
Mission-ready Sailors, Marines and their families, demonstrating spiritual, moral and ethical maturity, supported by the innovative delivery of religious ministry and compassionate pastoral care.
Controversies
The United States Navy is required to be responsive to diverse requirements of sailors, Marines, Coast Guardsmen, Merchant Marines and all their family members. Since its inception over two centuries ago, the United States Navy Chaplain Corps has experienced several controversies to fulfill such requirements as a Staff Corps community within the U.S. Navy.
Some contemporary controversies include the filing of class-action lawsuits by "non-liturgical" active and former active-duty Protestant chaplains alleging religious discrimination. These chaplains argued that the Navy allegedly employed a quota system that caused "non-liturgical" Protestant chaplains to be underrepresented through the current career promotion established by the Department of the Navy. [1].
In the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, Accommodating Faith in the Military (dated 3 July 2008) states: "That precise question has been raised in a series of cases, going back a decade, over the way that the Navy selects chaplains. These lawsuits allege that the Navy has hired chaplains using a "thirds policy," a formula dividing its chaplains into thirds: one-third consisting of liturgical Protestant denominations (such as Methodists, Lutherans, Episcopalians and Presbyterians); another third consisting of Catholics; and a last third consisting of non-liturgical Protestant denominations (such as Baptists, evangelicals, Bible churches, Pentecostals and charismatics) and other faiths. The lawsuits claim that the Navy's criteria are unconstitutional because they disfavor non-liturgical Protestants, who make up a great deal more than one-third of the Navy, while Catholics and liturgical Protestants each make up less than one-third.
In April 2007, a U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., rejected one of these challenges to the Navy's chaplain-selection criteria. The court held that the Navy had abandoned the thirds policy and said that its current criteria were constitutional because the Navy has broad discretion to determine how to accommodate the religious needs of its service members. This decision was affirmed in 2008 by the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
In June 2009, the Navy's Inspector General found that the Deputy Chief of Chaplains, RDML Alan Baker, took actions which "reprised against" his former Executive Assistant during a promotion board in 2008 and was subsequently not recommended for his second star and selection to Chief of Chaplains by the CNO. This determination found that Adm Baker improperly influenced a Captain (06) promotion board in a negative manner. Chaplain Baker retired in September 2009.
The current Chief of Chaplains for the Navy is RADM Margaret G. Kibben.
Chaplain and Chaplain Assistant Insignia
- See also: List of Naval Officer Designators, Badges of the United States Navy § Fleet Marine Force, and Uniforms of the United States Navy § Navy personnel attached to Marine Corps units
Leadership
- Chief of Chaplains of the United States Navy
- Chaplain of the United States Marine Corps
- Chaplain of the Coast Guard
- See also: USNA Chaplain Center official webpage
- Naval Academy Chapel
- Commodore Uriah P. Levy Center and Jewish Chapel
At the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, the current chaplain is Lieutenant Commander Daniel Mode
Prayers
- Eternal Father, Strong to Save (The Navy Hymn) (including special verses for Antarctic and Arctic service, divers and submariners, Naval aviation, Naval nurses, Seabees, SEALs, submariners, U.S. armed forces, wounded in combat, and for those deployed)
- Coast Guard prayers
- Marine Prayer
Grant me, oh Lord, for the coming events;
Enough knowledge to cope and some plain common sense. Be at our side on those nightly patrols; And be merciful judging our vulnerable souls. Make my hands steady and as sure as a rock; when the others go down with a wound or in shock. Let me be close, when they bleed in the mud; With a tourniquet handy to save precious blood. Here in the jungle, the enemy near; Even the corpsman can't offer much lightness and cheer. Just help me, oh Lord, to save lives when I can; Because even out there is merit in man.
If it's Your will, make casualties light; And don't let any die in the murderous night. These are my friends I'm trying to save; They are frightened at times, but You know they are brave. Let me not fail when they need so much; But to help me serve with a compassionate touch. Lord, I'm no heroâ€"my job is to heal; And I want You to know Just how helpless I feel. Bring us back safely to camp with dawn; For too many of us are already gone. Lord bless my friends If that's part of your plan; And go with us tonight, when we go out again.
Notable chaplains
- Barry C. Black â€" Chaplain for 27 years and 22nd Chief of Chaplains of the Navy.
- Robert R. Brett â€" Chaplain during Vietnam War.
- Vincent R. Capodanno â€" Chaplain during Vietnam War. Third chaplain and second Navy chaplain to be awarded the Medal of Honor. USS Capodanno was named in his honor.
- John P. Chidwick â€" Chaplain on USS Maine.
- Thomas M. Conway â€" Chaplain during World War II (USS Indianapolis).
- Frederic P. Gehring â€" Chaplain during World War II. First Navy chaplain awarded the Legion of Merit for conspicuous gallantry.
- John F. Laboon, Jr. â€" Chaplain during Vietnam War. Awarded the Legion of Merit. USS Laboon was named in his honor.
- John L. Lenhart â€" Chaplain during Civil War. First Navy chaplain to lose his life in battle.
- Joseph T. O'Callahan â€" Chaplain during World War II. Awarded the Medal of Honor. USS O'Callahan was named in his honor.
- John Joseph O'Connor â€" Chaplain during the Korean War and 14th Chief of Chaplains of the Navy. Later Roman Catholic Archbishop of New York and Cardinal.
- George S. Rentz â€" Chaplain during World War I and World War II. Only Navy chaplain to be awarded the Navy Cross during World War II. USS Rentz was named in his honor.
- Aloysius H. Schmitt â€" First chaplain to die in World War II; chaplain on USS Oklahoma during the attack on Pearl Harbor. USS Schmitt was named in his honor.
- USS Rentz (FFG-46)
- USS Kirkpatrick (DE 318)
- USS O'Callahan (FF-1051)
- USS Capodanno (FF-1093)
- USS Schmitt (DE-676)
- USS Laboon (DDG-58)
See also
References
Further reading
- See: United States military chaplains § Further reading
- Bergsma, Commander Herbert L. (1985). Marine Corps Historical Division, ed. Chaplains with Marines in Vietnam 1962â€"1971. United States Marine Corps. PCN 19000309100. Retrieved 12 December 2008.Â
- O'Brien, Steve. Blackrobe in Blue: The Naval Chaplaincy of John P. Foley, S.J. 1942â€"1946.
External links
- Chaplain Corps (USN official website)
- Official Blog of the U.S. Navy Chaplain Corps (Navy Chief of Chaplains Office)
- Official Facebook page of the U.S. Navy Chaplain Corps
- ChaplainCare (online Navy chaplain corps "Distance Support")
- Chaplain & Support (Navy Recruiting Command official website)
- Navy Chaplain School
- List of USN Chaplains 1778â€"1945. Bluejacket.com (see also: The Bluejacket's Manual)
- USNA Chaplain Center official website
- President Reagan reads first-hand account of Navy chaplains at 1983 Beirut barracks bombing: Text Version, Video Version, (Navy Chaplain Arnold Resnicoff)
- Armed Forces Chaplains Board (AFCB). Instruction Number 5120.08 (20 August 2007). Department of Defense. Retrieved 2010-09-09.
- Military Chaplains Association (MCA) official website. Retrieved 2009-12-03.
- National Conference on Ministry to the Armed Forces (NCMAF) official website. Retrieved 2009-12-03.
- The Four Chaplains Memorial Foundation official website
- Library of Congress audio and video history interviews of former U.S. military chaplains