and continuity in such religious education are
made difficult by frequent transfers of military
families. The various and unique denomina-
tional requirements also influence the religious
education programs that are provided for
dependent children of military personnel. For
these reasons, the Navy, Army, and Air Force
Departments make available religious education
curricula and materials which are designed
especially for military religious education pro-
grams. The curriculum for dependent children at
Navy and Marine Corps shore activities is
usually selected from the following three
resource guides:
Cooperative Protestant Religious Educa-
tion Curriculum
Catholic Curriculum and Resource Guide
(Roman Catholic)
Unified Jewish Religious Education Cur-
riculum
The materials described in these resource guides
are selected from publishing houses supervised
by members of the Armed Forces Chaplains
Board. The RP will probably be tasked by the
command chaplain to obtain material from
these three sources in order to provide a stand-
ardized religious education program for com-
mand personnel and their dependents. In
addition, RPs maybe tasked to solicit volunteers
to teach the standardized curriculum to depend-
ent children. This responsibility will require the
RP to instruct volunteers in Religious Education
(RE) methods and the use of religious education
material.
RELIGIOUS LITERATURE
The command usually has a supply of
religious literature in book and pamphlet form
available for use by its personnel. Pamphlet
racks containing such literature are likely to be
found at the entrance to the chapel, in the office
of the chaplain, and at other covenient loca-
tions. Many stations also have libraries with sec-
tions devoted to religious books and novels.
COMMAND CHAPLAIN
The ranking (senior) chaplain is normally
designated as the command chaplain where
more than one chaplain is assigned to a
command. Besides advising the command on
matters pertaining to religion and morale, the
command chaplain supervises the ministries of
all other chaplains assigned to the unit. Also, the
command chaplain performs duties similar to a
department head or division officer in relation
to managing RPs and other enlisted personnel
who are assigned to the office of the chaplain.
ADVISORY ROLE OF CHAPLAINS
The chaplain is a key officer in promoting
the religious and general well-being of command
personnel as an advisor to the commanding
officer on religious and morale matters. Col-
lateral duties are properly confined to the field
of religion and morale so as not to interfere with
the primary duties of the chaplain. An example
of an appropriate collateral duty is the respon-
sibility to furnish the commanding officer with
information to assist in paying proper respect to
the religious institutions and customs of various
foreign countries. Command chaplains need to
be informed concerning local religious beliefs
and value systems in order to perform this highly
important collateral duty. The RP may be
tasked by the chaplain to gather information
about the religious beliefs of a particular country
in order to lend support in determining the
proper respect that needs to be rendered.
PASTORAL COUNSELING
The chaplain is concerned with the well-
being of all command personnel and their
families and is available to counsel and advise
individuals on religious, personal, and morale
matters as well as other areas of concern. In the
performance of their duties, chaplains assist per-
sonnel and their families in time of bereavement,
domestic crisis, and on occasions when religious
guidance is requested. To enhance the Com-
mand Religious Program, chaplains normally
maintain liaision with community, social,
religious, health, and welfare agencies. These
sources are made available to military families
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