United States Navy Chaplain Corps - Yearbook

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supervision of the training of the student chaplains . This he conducted until the Chaplains'School was reopened in March 1951. A total of 21 Student Chaplains were orderedto the Chaplains Division for a period of five months during the time Chaplain Mullins had this special responsibility - nine in 1949 and 12 in l950. All of these chaplains, with the exception ofReserves in 1950, were USN. The Student Chaplains studied such subjects as Naval Orientation, Naval Regula- tions, the Chaplains Manual, the History of the Chaplain Corps and were made cognizant with the various phases of a chaplain's work through a series of two-week field assignments at naval in- stallations in Washington and vicinity, with the Marines at Quantico, the Fleet Marines at Camp Lejeune, and a two-weeks' cruise. With the acceleration of the procurement of new chaplains following the Korean incident, the re- activation of the Chaplains' School became a necessity. Arrangements were made for the es- tablishment of a School as a department of the General Line School at the Naval Training Station, Newport, Rhode Island. Chaplain D. F. Meehan was detached from his duties as Assistant Direc- tor of the Chaplains Division on 2 February 1951 and ordered to be Officer-in-Charge of the Chap- lains' Indoctrination Unit. C hapla i n s' Orlando Ingvoldstad, Jr., a veteran of Korea, and Richard W. Ricker were also ordered to the School to serve on the faculty. Chaplain John D. Zimmerman relieved Chaplain Meehan in November 1951. The School was opened on 9 March 1951 with a class of 25, all but two of whom were graduated 011 19 April. The reactivated School carried on the traditions of the School that was in existence during World War ll in the training of civilian clergymen to bring God to men and men to God the Navy way. The original faculty of the first Chaplains' School labored under great difficulties without the benefit of previous experience in that specialized field and without the several published aids now available as the Chaplain's Manual, the Navy Chaplain, and the History of the Corps. An 140 paged mimeographed Curriculum for Chaplain Corps Indoctrination, was prepared as aguide for the eight-week training of the Student Chaplains. No effort was made to overlap classes until August 1951 when the first abbreviated course for recallees was given. Following that date two four-week refresher courses were given during the two-month course taken by the newly com- missioned chaplains. Six ofthe two-month courses were given in 1951 and another six in 1952. Four of the one-month refresher courses were given in 1951 and 12 in 1952. NAVY REGULATIONS Navy Regulations of 1920 were replaced by the revision of 1948 which contained the following sections of interest to chaplains: 0711. OBSERVANCE OF SUNDAY l. Divine services shall be conducted on Sunday if possible. All assistance and encour- agement shall be given to chaplains in the con- duct of these services, and music shall be made' available, if practicable. A suitable space shall be designated and properly rigged for, the occasion, and quiet shall be maintained through- out the vicinity during divine services. The religious tendencies of individuals shall be recognized and encouraged. Z. Except by reason of necessity or in the interest of the welfare and morale of the command, the performance of work by naval personnel shall not be required on Sunday. 3. Kal When there is no chaplain attached to the command, the commanding officer shall engage the services of any naval or military chaplain who may be availableg or, failingiin this, shall, when practicable, invite a civilian clergyman to conduct religious services. tbl Provision shall be made for send- ing and receiving church parties as appropriate and practicable. 4. Except by reason of necessity, ships of the Navy shall not begin a cruise on Sunday. 5. The provisions of paragraphs 2 and 4 of this article shall not apply to commands en- gaged in training the naval reserve. 6. Nothing in this article shall be con- strued as prohibiting authorized work by civil- ian employees on Sunday. 7. In time of war or national emergency the provisions of this article shall be complied with, so far as practicable. 0807. THE CHAPLAIN The chaplain, when assigned, shall be de- tailed to duty directly under the executive offi- cer, or as appropriate, the chiefof staff. Under that officer, he shall be responsible for the performance of all duties relating to the reli- gious activities of the command, and of such other appropriate duties as may be prescribed by the commanding officer. The chaplain shall be permitted to conduct public worship accord- ing to the manner and forms of the church of which he is a member. The Articles for the Government of the Navy were repealed on 31 May 1951 according to the Act of 5 May 1950. This Act contains, as part one, the Uniform Code of Military Justice which is now found in the first part of the volume con- taining the Navy Regulations of 1948. The second part of this Act contains sixteen other sections which are not now in Navy Regulations, but which are a part of the Act, including the following:

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out of the 180 solicited, entered the Corps up to 1 July 1951 as a result of the appeal sent out by Chaplain Salisbury. Thus, up to 1 July 1951, a THE ENSIGN PROB On 24 June 1948, about two years before the beginning of hostilities in Korea, Naval Reserve Multiple Address Letter No. 27 was issued which outlined the procedures for the changing of the classification of Naval Reserve Officers, who were attending approved medical, dental, or theological schools, to an Ensign Probationary status in their respective corps. All who qualified and who de- sired to make this change were obliged to resign their commissions and request reappointment in the Naval Reserve as Ensigns Probationary in the Corps desired. The officers who accepted the new status and who subsequently qualified for a commission in the Regular Navy or in the Naval Reserve were then to receive the rank of Lieu- tenant fjgl in the corps of their probationary ap- pointments. Those who failed to qualify would upon request be recommissioned in their original rank. The purpose of this letter was to permit students in these professions to continue their training without the danger of being recalled to active duty in their former rank and classifica- tion in the event of mobilization. Following the beginning of hostilities in Korea, another Letter was issued on the same subject under date of ll October 1950. This letter ex- plained: Both civil and military needs in these professions are of such critical nature that the Navy does not desire to carry these students on the rolls of the Naval Reserve in other than the special fields for which they are preparing. Such students are eligible for and should be urged to apply for appointments as Ensign Probationary, 1135, USNR . No provision was made for any financial assistance to be given by the Government as was the case in the V-12 program. The new status at first was open only to those who were in the Naval Reserve. Provision was made about 1 May 1951 for the acceptance of Marine Reserv- ists. The NRMAL of October 1950 distinctly stated that Naval Reservists who failed to apply for ap- pointment as Probationary Ensigns while attending approved schools of medicine, dentistry, or theol- ogy, or who, having completed such training, failed to request appointment in the Staff Corps of their speciality, would be subject to the same obligations for active service in time ofwar or national emer- gency as other Reservists of similar grade or rank, regardless of their professional qualifica- tions. INDOCTRINATION OF CHAPLAINS The Chaplains' School was decommissioned on 15 November 1945. From 1 January 1946 to July 1949 all additions to the Corps, who had not been on active duty as chaplains during World War II, were sent to various District or Senior Chaplains total of 65 former V-12 theological students had been on active duty for varying periods of time as Navy Chaplains. AT IONARY PROGRAM Upon completion of their professional studies, the Probationary Ensigns were given one of three choices, provided, of course, that all other quali- fications for a commission were met: Q11 Accept a commission in the Regular Navy, Q21 accept a commission in the Reserve with achoice of active or inactive dutyg and Q31 resign. Both the Marine Corps and the Navy issued directives - the former dated 6 December 1950 and the latter 5 January 1951 - which permitted the discharge of all bona fide clergymen or the- ological students connected with the Reserves. A Navy directive of l2 February 1951, permitted seniors in theological schools who were within 120 days of their ordination to apply directly for a commission in the Chaplains Corps without going through the status of Ensign Probationary. The main purpose of the Ensign Probationary provision was to permit medical, dental, and the- ological Reserves to continue their professional studies without interruption. Asecondary purpose was to provide a continuing supply of qualified officers for the Navy. The appointment to the status of Ensign Probationary did not guarantee a commission in the corps desired. The officer concerned had to meet the usual requirements. However, the holding of the status of Ensign Pro- bationary facilitated the final appointment. As of 15 June 1951 the Chaplains Division re- ported 75 under appointment as Ensign, Proba- tionary. The first Ensign Probationary known to have accepted a. commission in the Chaplain Corps was William H. Vinson who was commissioned on 13 July 1951 and who was a member of the class at the Chaplains School which began its work on October 8th of that year. In the spring of 1952 the Navy opened the enrollment of the Ensign Pro- bationary program to other than Reserves. It has taken some time to get the Ensign Probationary program under way as the plan appealed especially to the students in the seminaries who were below the Senior year. By 1 January 1953, eight were known to have been commissioned as chaplains who came out of this program. Also as of that date, 57 had been in the program but had declined appointment or had resigned, and 145 were in seminary of whom 40 were planning to apply for active duty. Thus the program was just beginning to be effective by the spring of 1953. AND THE CHAPLAINS SCHOOL for a period of indoctrination. In July 1949 the Chaplains Division assumed this responsibility and in October of that year Chaplain T. J. Mullins, who had just reported to the Chaplains Division as Assistant for Chaplain Training, took over the

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SECTION Hel COMMANDERS' DUTIES OF EX- AMPLE AND CORRECTION All commanding officers and others inau- thority in the naval service are required to show in themselves a good example of virtue, honor, patriotism, and subordination, to be vigilant in inspecting the conduct of all persons who are placed under their command, to guard against and suppress all dissolute and immoral prac- tices, and to correct, according to the laws and regulations of the Navy, all persons who are guilty of them, and to take all necessary and proper measures, under the laws, regulations, and customs of the naval service, to promote and safeguard the morale, the physical well- being, and the general welfare of the officers and enlisted persons under their command, or charge. SECTION 7Qdj DIVINE SERVICE The commanders of vessels and naval activities to which chaplains are attached shall cause divine service to be performed onSunday, whenever the weather and other circumstances allow it to be done, and it is earnestly recom- mended to all officers, seamen, and others in the naval service diligently to attend at every performance of the worship of Almighty God. SECTION 7Qel REVERENT BEHAVIOR All persons in the navy are enjoined to behave themselves in a reverent and becoming manner during divine service. Thus the provisions found in the old Articles for the Government of the Navy, familiarly known as Rocks and Shoals, regarding Conduct and Morals in general and divine services inpartic- ular were preserved in the new regulations with but few changes. These quotations given above, Section 7c to 7e inclusive, are to be found in Ap- pendix Z, page 454 of the Manual for Courts- Martial, United States. 1951. PROTECTION OF MORAL STANDARDS President Truman, in October 1948, appointed nine men and women to The President's Com- mittee on Religion and Welfare in the Armed Forces. This number was later increased to eleven. All were volunteers and all were promi- nent in public affairs and social welfare activities. Mr. Frank L. Weil of New York served as chair- man. The Committee was appointed to encourage and promote the religious, moral and recreational welfare and character guidance of persons in the Armed Forces. One reason for sucha committee was the fact that the Armed Services at the end of 1948 had 630,000 young men under the age of Zl. In other words, at that time, about 505k of all serv- ice personnel were minors, a larger percentage than ever before in the peacetime history of the nation. The Committee sought to stimulate a public awareness of the needs of the peacetime service- man. Such matters as adequate housing for de- pendents of service personnel, programs of recreational activities in communities adjacent .to military establishments, and the work of the chaplains in the various branches of the Armed Services came under the study of the Comrnittee. The Chaplains Division of the Navy furnished de- tailed information regarding the status of the Navy's Chaplain Corps and of the activities of its chaplains. The function of the Committee was wholly in- vestigative and advisory. Under date of 1 October 1950 the Committee issued its report inapamphlet entitled The Military Chaplains, AReport to the President by the President's Committee on Reli- gion andWelfare in the Armed Forces. The Report set forth a number of suggestions for a closer liaison between the chaplains in the Armed Serv- ices and the civilian churches and clergy. The Committee reported: It is to the credit of the three Chief of Chaplains and to the entire chaplaincy in all three services, that there is nothing funda- mentally wrong with the chaplaincy, except for the acute shortage of these exceptionally well-qualified candidates for the chaplaincy who are so vitally needed. And, finally, the Committee stated: It would be unfair to conclude this report without a word about the generally satisfac- tory state of affairs in the military chaplaincy. Our Armed Forces are doing a highly com- mendable job meeting their responsibilities to military personnel and their families. The chaplains are a positive influence for good and they serve to promote the spiritual wel- fare of the armed forces in a manner calcu- lated to promote the best interests of the Nation. The country's citizens should be proud of their chaplaincy in the armed forces and extend to chaplains their fullest support. The Committee concluded its activities on Feb- ruary Z8, 1951. Never before had the chaplaincies of the Armed Services such a powerful advocate to speak in their behalf. For the first time in the history of the nation, an agency of civilians con- cerned with the spiritual and moral welfare of service personnel had made a serious study ofthe situation and had made definite recommendations to the President and to the Secretary of Defense. There is evidently a connection between the work of the President's Committee and the fol- lowing important memorandum sent under date of 26 May 1951, by General George C. Marshall, Secretary of Defense, to the Secretaries of the Army, Navy, and Air Force, to Chiefs of Staff of the Army and Air Force, andto the Chief of Naval Operations: It is in the national interest that personnel serving in the Armed Forces be protected in the realization and development of moral, 262022 1 h-Rf! 7