United States Navy Chaplain Corps

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.[3]

United States Navy Chaplain Corps was established on 28 November 1775.[4]

The Continental Navy, the 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 onboard, 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 the 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.[5]

During World War II, at least 24 Chaplains died, with three being killed during the Attack on Pearl Harbor.[6]

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.

Chaplains then attend the Navy Chaplain School at Ft. Jackson, South Carolina, at the Armed Forces Chaplaincy Center (AFCC).[7]

The Navy has a "Chaplain Candidate Program Officer" (CCPO) Program for seminary students interested in obtaining a commission before completing their graduate studies.[8][9]

Naval Chaplaincy School and Center

Further information: Armed Forces Chaplaincy Center

President George W. Bush congratulates Imam Abuhena Saifulislam, the first US Navy Muslim chaplain assigned to the Marine Corps.

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).[10] The three schools are co-located at Fort Jackson, in Columbia, South Carolina.[11] NCSC's first graduating class – consisting of 29 chaplains and chaplain candidates – graduated on 6 November 2009.[10] NCSC is the successor of the Naval Chaplains School, which relocated in mid-August 2009 from Newport, Rhode Island, 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, Mississippi.[10]

The AFCC is designed to foster closer cooperation between the three Chaplain Corps and to facilitate shared instruction and training.[10]

A Catholic chaplain ministers to U.S. marines and sailors in Tikrit, Iraq

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 Marine, Navy and Coast Guard personnel and their families.
• ADVISE commanders to ensure the free exercise of religion.

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 in fulfilling 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.[12]

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 promotion board in a negative manner. Chaplain Baker retired in September 2009.

The current (27th) Chief of Chaplains for the Navy is RADM Brent W. Scott.

Navy Chaplain (Fr.) George Pucciarelli wears a stole over his Marine Corps camouflage uniform that he donned to deliver Last Rites after the 1983 truck bomb attack. He tore off a piece of his uniform to make a new kippa for Jewish chaplain Arnold Resnicoff, as they ministered side-by-side to all Marines

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

• Chief of Chaplains of the United States Navy
• Chaplain of the United States Marine Corps
• Chaplain of the Coast Guard

On 1 July 1944, Chaplain Lindner reads the benediction held in honor of USS South Dakota shipmates killed in the air action off Guam

Chaplain Joseph T. O'Callahan ministers to an injured man aboard USS Franklin, 1945.

A US Navy chaplain celebrates Catholic Mass for Marines at Saipan, June 1944, commemorating comrades fallen in initial amphibious landings.

• 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[13][14]

• 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[15]
• Marine Prayer[16]

• Barry C. Black – Chaplain for 27 years and 22nd Chief of Chaplains of the Navy.
• Vincent R. Capodanno – Chaplain during Vietnam War. Third chaplain and second Navy chaplain to be awarded the Medal of Honor.[17] USS Capodanno was named in his honor. Cause for canonization to sainthood is ongoing.
• John P. Chidwick – Chaplain on USS Maine.
• Frederic P. Gehring – Chaplain during World War II. First Navy chaplain awarded the Legion of Merit for conspicuous gallantry.
• John F. Laboon, Jr. – Chaplain during Vietnam War. Awarded the Legion of Merit. USS Laboon was named in his honor.
• Adam Marshall – First Catholic chaplain in the Navy.[18]
• Joseph T. O'Callahan – Chaplain during World War II. Awarded the Medal of Honor. USS O'Callahan was named in his honor.
• John Joseph O'Connor – Chaplain during the Korean War and 14th Chief of Chaplains of the Navy. Later Roman Catholic Archbishop of New York and Cardinal.[19]
• George S. Rentz – 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 – 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.

See: United States military chaplains § Further reading

• Bergsma, Commander Herbert L. (1985). Marine Corps Historical Division (ed.). Chaplains with Marines in Vietnam 1962–1971. United States Marine Corps. PCN 19000309100. Retrieved 12 December 2008.
• O'Brien, Steve. Blackrobe in Blue: The Naval Chaplaincy of John P. Foley, S.J. 1942–1946.

• 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 1778–1945. 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