RP school returns home to NASM

MERIDIAN, Miss. – The Navy’s Religious Program Specialist (RP) schoolhouse training has returned to Naval Air Station Meridian after a 10-year absence due to the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) commission mandated the move to Fort Jackson, S.C. RP training moved to Fort Jackson in 2009. The BRAC relocation mandated a collocation of schools to design and foster closer cooperation among the three military chaplain corps. “The relocation (back) to Meridian allows our RPs the opportunity to develop as leaders and sailors alongside their Navy enlisted counterparts,” said Capt. Steve Moses, commanding officer, Naval Chaplaincy School and Center (NCSC). The Meridian ‘A’ school provides initial RP skills training following boot camp. Twenty students are enrolled in the first back-to-Meridian RP class. Nearly 200 RPs graduate from NCSC residence courses annually to prepare them to deliver professional religious ministry to sailors, Marines, guardsmen and Merchant Marines. (Source: Naval Education and Training Command 02/26/19)