Factors That May Tend to Limit the Religious Education of Recruits
Abstract
This research project was conducted at the Navy's Recruit Training Command in San Diego with the permission of the Commanding Officer and the Command Chaplain. Its purpose was to examine potentially limiting factors that regularly impact religious education programs at the Navy's recruit training commands, but which are not normally encountered at local churches or synagogues. Among them are the religiously pluralistic nature of recruit populations, the short-term nature of recruit training, the transient quality of the recruit experience, the intense schedule of recruit training, and the limited opportunity chaplains have for follow-up with recruits. Interviews with chaplains at Recruit Training Command affirmed the presence of those factors, and also disclosed their strategies for dealing with them. Recruit opinion on how well the program had provided for their religious needs was obtained through a survey of graduating recruits. The survey indicated that religious education at Recruit Training had been highly successful in all areas considered by the questionnaire. Recruits were in strong agreement that the area where religious education had the greatest impact was in helping them to get through boot camp. Strengthening their faith was the second strongest area, followed by the help religious education had provided in preparing them for life in general.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 01, 1992
- Accession Number
- ADA250837
Entities
People
- Forrest E. Wessendorf
Organizations
- San Diego State University