Religious Program Specialist Religious Program Specialist ( abbreviated as RP ) is a United States Navy occupational rating . Religious Program Specialists assist Navy chaplains . Religious program specialists provide support to Navy chaplains in developing programs to meet the needs of Navy , Marine Corps and Coast Guard personnel and their families . RPs perform functions that do not require ordination and do no pastoral counseling . What They Do . The duties performed by RPs include : supporting chaplains of all faiths and religious activities of the command ; maintaining records , ecclesiastical documents and references of various faith groups ; maintaining liaison with religious and community agencies ; assisting in preparation of devotional and religious educational materials , and audio - visual displays ; determining , developing , managing and maintaining the administrative and logistical support requirements of religious programs and facilities aboard ships , shore stations , hospitals , Marine Corps units and other sea service commands ; providing physical security for chaplains during field exercises and in combat environments ; operating and maintaining libraries aboard ships and isolated duty stations ; performing bookkeeping and accounting functions related to Religious Offerings Fund and OPTAR fund transactions ; as custodians , rigging and unrigging for religious activities ; publicizing the command ' s religious activities ; training command religious program volunteers on logistics and instruction methods ; supervising chaplain ' s office personnel ; performing administrative , clerical and secretarial duties ; stocking and maintaining field mount - out boxes . RPs must have a favorable interview by chaplain / RP screening committee . High school diploma graduate or equivalent with successful completion of 10th grade . Repeat military offenders and personnel convicted by military or civilian authorities of any criminal offense reflecting unfavorably upon their character or integrity are ineligible for the RP rating . Moral turpitude offense ( s ) are disqualifying . Ministers , Priests , or Rabbis are not eligible for this rating . History . The idea of having a chaplain ’ s specialist assigned to each ship with a chaplain aboard dates from 1878 . That year a committee of chaplains first made the recommendation to the Navy Department . Although the Navy Department did not immediately adopt the recommendation , successive generations of chaplains gave their support to the idea . Specialist " W " . Finally , from 1942 to 1945 , the Navy adopted the Specialist “ W ” rate ( the “ W ” stood for Welfare ) to address the specific wartime needs of Chaplains serving in World War II . Specialist " W " s were at that time required to : Perform clerical duties ; play piano and organ for worship services ; be competent musical directors ; not expected to serve as religious leaders ( just as it is today for RPs ) ; and be willing to serve anywhere under any conditions . WAVES . Women also distinguished themselves as Specialists ( W ) during the war . Thirty - eight “ WAVES ” were selected to serve in the rating . Virginia T . Moore was the first woman to be selected as a Specialist ( W ) and was subsequently assigned duty in November 1943 in the Nation ’ s Capital . The first “ WAVES ” to attend the Chaplains School in June 1944 were recognized as highly motivated , dedicated , and conscientious students . W . Everett Hendricks . The first officially designated Specialist ( W ) in the history of the Navy was W . Everett Hendricks who was authorized to enlist on 23 April 1942 with the rating of Specialist ( W ) first class . Hendricks was assigned duty in the Office of the Chaplain at the Naval Training Station , Great Lakes , Illinois . He was recognized as a talented musician and choir director and contributed significantly to the success of the famed Great Lakes ’ Bluejacket Choir . Chief Specialist " W " Alfred R . Markin . Between April 1942 and August 1945 , the Bureau of Naval Personnel selected 509 individuals for the Specialist ( W ) rating out of 1 , 455 applicants . Alfred R . Markin was advanced to Chief Specialist ( W ) in February 1944 and is recognized as being the first individual to be advanced to chief petty officer in this rating . A total of 30 Specialists ( W ) were advanced to chief petty officer , and most of these senior petty officers were assigned to large training centers and in the offices of district , force , and fleet chaplains . Chaplains Assistant ( SSN534 ) . Also in 1942 , the Marine Corps established a rating known as Chaplain ’ s Assistant ( SSN534 ) . The first marine to receive the new classification was Gilbert Dean Arnold , who was made a gunnery sergeant , the equivalent of a chief petty officer in the Navy . Thirty - five members of the Marine Corps Women ’ s Reserve became Chaplain ’ s Assistants in addition to the 105 active duty marines . Unlike the Navy and Coast Guard who instituted the Specialist ( W ) as a wartime measure , the Marine Corps announced that it intended to retain its rating of Chaplain ’ s Assistant after the war . Personnelmen and Yeoman Chaplain ’ s Professional Assistant ( YN - 2525 ) . In April 1948 , the Navy established the Personnelman rating . Included in the job classification for this rating was Chaplain ’ s Assistant . From 1945 to 1979 , the Yeoman rating furnished personnel in the Chaplain ’ s Clerk specialty ( YN 2525 ) to aide and support Navy chaplains in their efforts to provide quality ministry . Before a Yeoman could be assigned to a chaplain , however , the command chaplain had to go through the lengthy and time - consuming process of justifying the need for a YN 2525 billet . As a result , the establishment of a permanent rating to support the Navy ’ s chaplains remained a primary goal of the Chief of Chaplains . 15 January 1979 . The 101 - year quest for a permanent chaplain ’ s assistant rating was finally realized on 15 January 1979 when the Secretary of the Navy approved the establishment of the Religious Program Specialist ( RP ) rating . Stringent selection requirements were set , and personnel requesting lateral conversions from other ratings to the RP rating had to be interviewed and recommended by a Navy chaplain . Requirements to cross - rate to RP in 1979 . JUST AS IT IS TODAY Merger threatens rate . Between 2002 and 2004 , a manpower proposal was put together that would merge the RP rate – along with CTA and LN – back into the Yeoman rating as a “ right - sizing ” and cost - cutting measure . Long - rumored to be on the verge of ending the rate , it was the RPs role with the Marine Corps and the Corps ’ emphatic support of what RPs do that eventually spared the rate from this merger . Still making news . January 23 , 2004 . Religious Program Specialist 1st Class ( FMF ) Robert Page was awarded a Bronze Star with the Combat Distinguishing Device " V " for Valor , indicating direct combat involvement , for his actions near An Nasariya , Iraq , in March while supporting Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom . http : / / www . navy . mil / search / display . asp ? story _ id = 11600 New " A " School . In August 2009 , the Naval Chaplaincy School and Center ( NCSC ) was opened in Fort Jackson , Columbia , South Carolina . The RP “ A ” School was then moved from Meridian , Mississippi to the NCSC so that RPs and Chaplains would be able to train with each other . The move to an Army base was intended to make for a more seamless integration of the field training Chaplains and RPs can expect when assigned with Marines and Army units .