CHAPTER 3
MANAGEMENT OF THE OFFICE
OF THE CHAPLAIN
When Religious Program Specialist (RP) petty
officers are advanced to RP1 or RPC, they are
accepting responsibility for the work of others—in
both professional and military duties. Every petty
officer is expected to be a leader as well as a
technical expert. Therefore, RPCs and RP1s
should strive to improve their leadership ability
and to increase their technical knowledge through
study, observation, and practical application.
The purpose of this chapter is to help the RPC
or RP1 acquire the leadership skills necessary to
attain managerial competency as an office
manager or as an administrative office supervisor.
This chapter will also present the basic skills that
the manager of the office of the chaplain must
possess in order to have an effective and well-run
office. Whether at sea or ashore, the same
elements of good management affect the opera-
tion of the office of the chaplain.
RELIGIOUS PROGRAM SPECIALIST
AS MANAGER OF THE OFFICE
OF THE CHAPLAIN
The RPC or RP1 serving in the office of the
chaplain is likely to be the senior petty officer
there and consequently will assume the role of
office manager. The primary goal of the RPC or
RP1 who is manager is to plan, organize, direct,
and control the operation of the office of the
chaplain in such a way that the mission of the
Command Religious Program (CRP) can be
accomplished.
RESOURCES OF THE MANAGER
The basic resources of a manager are per-
sonnel, office organization and facilities, time,
money, and materiel. The effective manager
integrates all five resources into a unit that can
successfully accomplish CRP objectives.
Personnel
Since the efforts of assigned personnel will
ultimately determine how effectively CRP goals
will be achieved, it follows that supervising and
training people is the central, most important
managerial task. Even the best equipment or the
best possible arrangement of jobs will be of little
value unless the office is staffed with well-trained,
highly motivated personnel.
PERSONNEL ASSIGNMENTS.— Personnel
assignments are made by the Naval Military
Personnel Command (NMPC) and the Enlisted
Personnel Management Center (EPMAC). Navy
recruiters provide personnel to fill authorized
billets.
As personnel assets are made available to
NMPC and EPMAC, some billets must be filled
on a priority basis. After all priority manning has
been completed, the remaining personnel assets
are distributed on a fair-share basis to fill existing
billets. This distribution process forms the basis
of the Navy Manning Plan (NMP) and is
monitored on a continuing basis by EPMAC.
PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT.— Machin-
ery and equipment can usually be purchased when
needed, but conscientious and dedicated people
can be obtained only through effective leadership
and support. The leading RP must show a great
deal of interest in the performance of assigned
personnel. How well they perform is directly
related to the performance of the leading RP. In
order to guide assigned personnel in the area of
performance, the RPC or RP1 must closely
observe their day-to-day office activities, identify
weaknesses, and recognize any poor work habits
that have developed.
Whenever difficulties arise, positive steps by
the leading RP will usually make assigned per-
sonnel feel more at ease. Identification of the
error, negative trend, or weakness, together with
encouragement by the leading RP, will most often
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