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{{Short description|Fraternal order of Scientology}}
{{use mdy dates|date=February 2023}}
{{Infobox organization
| image               = Sea Org logo.svg
| size                = 120px
| caption             = 
| logo_size           = 
| name                = Sea Org
| full_name           = Sea Organization
| formation           = 1967
| type                = 
| status              = 
| purpose             = 
| headquarters        = [[Gold Base]], California (Church of Scientology headquarters)
| location            = Los Angeles; Clearwater, Florida; London; [[Saint Hill Manor]]; Copenhagen; and on the ''[[Freewinds]]''
| leader_title        = 
| leader_name         = [[David Miscavige]] (Captain)
| founder             = [[L. Ron Hubbard]] (Commodore)
| formerly            = Sea Project{{r|reitman|page=90}}
| num_staff           = 
| num_volunteers      = 
| parent_organization = [[Church of Scientology]]
| budget              = 
| publication         = ''High Winds''
| website             = 
}}
{{Scientology sidebar}}
The '''Sea Organization''' or '''Sea Org''' is the senior-most status of [[Scientology officials|staff]] within the [[Church of Scientology]] network of corporations, but is not itself incorporated. In the 1960s and 1970s, the Sea Org was started as [[L. Ron Hubbard]]'s private navy, and adopted naval uniforms and ranks.{{r|miller|page=263}}{{r|urban|page=124}} Today, all Scientology management organizations are exclusively staffed with Sea Org members.{{r|nrmarlia2003}} The Sea Org maintains strict codes for its members, beginning with a billion-year pledge of service to [[Scientology]] upon initiation.{{r|urban|page=125}} [[David Miscavige]], the leader of Scientology, is the highest-ranking Sea Org officer with the rank of captain. The higher rank of commodore is permanently reserved for the reincarnation of the late L. Ron Hubbard, founder of Scientology.{{r|reitman|page=139}} Some ex-members and scholars have described the Sea Org as a [[totalitarian]] organization marked by intensive surveillance and lack of freedom.{{r|urban|page=125}}
<!--Note: The first lead paragraph (above) is excerpted into the [[Church of Scientology]] article-->

In a 1992 memorandum by the [[Church of Scientology International]], the following information was provided to the [[Internal Revenue Service]] with regards to the nature of the Sea Org:<ref>[https://www.scribd.com/document/267513033/Church-of-Scientology-Nov-23-1992-Third-Set-of-Responses-to-the-IRS Church of Scientology, Nov. 23, 1992: Third Set of Responses to the IRS in support of Scientology's application for 501(c)(3) tax exemption.]</ref>
{{blockquote|[The Sea Org] does not have an ecclesiastical organizing board or command channels chart or secular existence such as an incorporated or unincorporated association.{{nbsp}}[...] Although there is no such "organization" as the Sea Organization, the term Sea Org has a colloquial usage which implies that there is. There are general recruitment posters and literature for "The Sea Org" which implies that people will be employed by the Sea Org when in reality they will join, making the billion year commitment, at some church that is staffed by Sea Org members and become employees of that church corporation.{{nbsp}}[...] The Sea Org exists as a spiritual commitment that is factually beyond the full understanding of the [Internal Revenue] Service or any other but a trained and audited Scientologist.}}

== History ==

The Sea Org was established on August 12, 1967, by [[L. Ron Hubbard]], the founder of [[Dianetics]] and [[Scientology]], initially aboard three ships, the ''Avon River'', the ''Enchanter'', and [[HMS Royal Scotsman|HMS ''Royal Scotsman'']]. Hubbard later rechristened the three vessels the ''Diana'', the ''Athena'', and the ''Apollo''. The Apollo served as the flagship, or simply called "Flag", and Hubbard was referred to as Commodore.{{r|reitman|page=93}}<ref name="lewis-ch1">{{cite book |title=Scientology |title-link=Scientology (Lewis book) |year=2009 |editor-first=James R. |editor-last=Lewis |editor-link=James R. Lewis (scholar) |isbn=9780199852321 |ol=16943235M |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |chapter=Birth of a Religion |pages=17–34 |first=J. Gordon |last=Melton |author-link=J. Gordon Melton |doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195331493.003.0002 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MtW90YkkB3gC&pg=PA26}}</ref>{{Rp|26}}

In 1971, the Sea Org assumed responsibility for the delivery of the upper levels of its [[Auditing (Scientology)|auditing]] and training, known as the [[Operating Thetan]] or "OT" levels.{{r|melton2003|pages=46–47}} In 1981, under the aegis of the [[Commodore's Messenger Organization]] led by David Miscavige, Sea Org members dissolved the [[Office of Special Affairs#History|Guardian's Office]] (GO) and assumed full responsibility for the church's international management, later reassigning the GO's duties to the [[Office of Special Affairs]] in 1983 during the corporate restructuring of the Church.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.xenu.net/archive/go/gohist.htm |title=Scientology's Secret Service 2. The Guardian Office (1966-83) |first=Chris |last=Owen |date=August 1997 |website=[[Operation Clambake]] |publisher=[[Andreas Heldal Lund]] |access-date=8 July 2013}}</ref>

It moved to land-based organizations in 1975, though maritime customs persist, with many members wearing naval-style uniforms and addressing both male and female officers as "sir".<ref name=reitman-rs>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/inside-scientology-103288/ |title=Inside Scientology |date=February 23, 2006 |first=Janet |last=Reitman |author-link=Janet Reitman |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090430200426/http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/9363363/inside_scientology/print |archive-date=April 30, 2009}}</ref> In 1985, the church purchased a {{convert|440|ft|m|adj=on}} [[motor ship|motor vessel]], the ''[[Freewinds]]'', which docks in [[Curaçao]] in the southern Caribbean and is used as a religious retreat and training center, staffed entirely by Sea Org members.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/03/world/scientology-cruise-ship/index.html |title=Here's what happens on Scientology's cruise ship, the Freewinds. It sounds pretty intense. |first=Daniel |last=Burke |date=May 4, 2019 |publisher=CNN}}</ref> Sea Org members make a lifetime commitment to Scientology by signing a billion-year contract officially described as a symbolic pledge.{{r|melton2003|page=53}} In exchange, they are given free [[room and board]], as well as a small weekly allowance. Sea Org members agree to strict codes of discipline, such as disavowing [[premarital sex]], working long hours (on average at least 100 hours per week)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2012/07/scientology_sea_org_15_year_olds.php |title=Scientology's Own Promotional Material Attests to 15-Year-Olds in the Sea Org |date=July 4, 2012 |first=Tony |last=Ortega |author-link=Tony Ortega (journalist) |website=Runnin' Scared |publisher=[[Village Voice]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140108034048/http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2012/07/scientology_sea_org_15_year_olds.php |archive-date=2014-01-08 }}</ref> and living in communal housing called [[berthing]].<ref>{{Citation| last = Headley| first = Marc | year=2009 | title = Blown for Good: Behind the Iron Curtain of Scientology | publisher = BFG Books | page = 358 | url = http://blownforgood.com/?page_id=39 | access-date = 8 July 2013 |isbn=9780982502204}}</ref> They are allowed to marry, but must leave the Sea Org if they have or want to raise children.{{r|wright-apostate}}

==Background==

[[File:L. Ron Hubbard in 1950 - Restoration.jpg|thumb|[[L. Ron Hubbard]] founded the [[Church of Scientology]] in 1953 and the Sea Org in 1967.]]
{{see also|Scientology beliefs and practices|Space opera in Scientology}}
According to Hubbard, much of the galaxy, including Earth (known as "[[Teegeeack]]"), was ruled tens of millions of years ago by the [[Galactic Confederacy]]. The confederacy was controlled by [[Xenu]], a tyrant who was eventually overthrown by a group within the Galactic Confederacy known as the "Loyal Officers". Religious scholar [[Hugh Urban]] writes that the Sea Org is modeled after these Loyal Officers.{{r|urban|page=124}} Urban also describes the Sea Org, with the naval uniforms and ranks, as an idealized re-creation of [[Military career of L. Ron Hubbard|Hubbard's own World War II military career]]. He says the Sea Org is reminiscent of the "Soldiers of Light" in Hubbard's science fiction story collection ''[[Ole Doc Methuselah]]''.{{r|urban|page=124}} The publicized goal of the Sea Org is to "get ethics in on the planet".{{r|urban|page=125}}

Academic [[Stephen A. Kent]] has argued that at least part of the reason for the establishment of the Sea Org was that the Church of Scientology's practices encountered resistance from the American [[Food and Drug Administration]] and the [[Internal Revenue Service]], as well as from the governments of the [[United Kingdom]], [[Australia]], and [[Rhodesia]]. Sailing on the high seas meant the church could escape their attention.<ref>{{cite book |last=Kent |first=Stephen A. |author-link=Stephen A. Kent |title=From Slogans to Mantras: Social Protest and Religious Conversion in the Late Vietnam War Era |title-link=From Slogans to Mantras: Social Protest and Religious Conversion in the Late Vietnam War Era |publisher=Syracuse University Press |year=2001 |ol=15521204M |isbn=0815629486 |pages=111–112 |quote=However, the less lofty reason behind Hubbard's establishment of the Sea Org was that he had encountered opposition in the United States from the Food and Drug Administration and the IRS, from the governments of Australia, the United Kingdom, and Rhodesia, and from various media sources around the world, which motivated him to set sail on the high seas and thereby escape the control of any nation-state.}}</ref>

In 2000 the number of Sea Org members was listed at around 5,800.{{r|melton2003|page=53}} Most Sea Org members reside in church complexes in Los Angeles, Clearwater, Copenhagen, London, Saint Hill, and Sydney, with some at smaller centers or on assignment elsewhere.{{r|melton2003|page=53}} According to reports filed with the [[Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission]] in 2022, the Church of Scientology Religious Education College Incorporated, Scientology's UK arm, claimed to have a total of 700 "volunteers" (including Sea Org) across Saint Hill, London, Manchester, Birmingham and other UK organizations.<ref>{{cite report|date=16 September 2022 |title=Church of Scientology Religious Education College Incorporated Financial Report 2021 |url=https://acncpubfilesprodstorage.blob.core.windows.net/public/3420a2f9-39af-e811-a962-000d3ad24a0d-b45521eb-1a78-4e9f-8578-7f28be890d99-Financial%20Report-51f81de6-b935-ed11-9db1-00224893bd39-COSRECI_Financial_Report_2021.pdf |publisher=Australian Charities and Not-For-Profits Commission |access-date= 8 May 2023}}</ref>{{Failed verification|date=May 2023}}

According to scholar Susan Raine, Hubbard created the Sea Org as a "kind of space navy, melding [sci-fi] space ideas with Earthbound naval ones." Hubbard biographer [[Jon Atack]] recalled a confidential Sea Org executive directive that claimed that governments of the world were on the verge of collapse: "The Sea Org would survive and pick up the pieces."{{r|atack|page=21}}

==Structure==

{{anchor|Sea Org Day}}'''Sea Org Day''' is August 12, when ceremonies are held to commemorate the achievements and contributions of Sea Org members, and when rank and promotion ceremonies take place.<ref>{{Cite tweet |user=Scientology |number=631467427851689984 |title=Today we celebrate Sea Org Day, to commemorate the achievements and contributions of all Sea Org members everywhere!}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cumbria.gov.uk/elibrary/Content/Internet/535/612/43503101029.pdf |title=Religion, Belief and Culture in our Community |year=2019 |publisher=Cumbria government}}</ref><ref name="hill">{{cite book |last=Hill |first=Jenna Miscavige |author-link=Jenna Miscavige Hill |title=[[Beyond Belief: My Secret Life Inside Scientology and My Harrowing Escape]] |publisher=[[William Morrow and Company]] |isbn=9780062248473 |ol=25424774M |pages=95–96}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Handbook of Scientology |editor1-first=James R. |editor1-last=Lewis |editor2-first=Kjersti |editor2-last=Hellesøy |year=2016 |chapter=Researching Scientology and Scientologists in the United States: Methods and Conclusions |first=Donald A. |last=Westbrook |isbn=9789004330542}}</ref>

'''''High Winds''''' is the magazine of the Sea Org. The first issue was released on Sea Org Day 1980.<ref>''High Winds''. Issue 2 (1980).</ref>

===Estates Project Force===
All new recruits are required to complete compulsory [[novitiate]] before they are allowed to join the Sea Org, which has been described as a [[Recruit training|boot camp]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/07/06/scientology-s-sea-org-an-escape-story-for-katie-holmes-and-suri-cruise.html |title=Scientology's Sea Org: A Story of Escape for Katie Holmes and Suri Cruise |first=Abigail |last=Pesta |website=[[The Daily Beast]] |date=6 July 2012 |publisher=Newsweek/The Daily Beast LLC}}</ref> During this phase, known as the Estates Project Force (EPF), recruits are not considered full Sea Org members. They are required to address all members as "sir", regardless of rank, and must run everywhere instead of walking.<ref name="kent-brainwashing"/> Married couples are separated for the duration of the EPF and not allowed to have private or intimate contact with each other.{{citation needed|date=November 2020}}

While on the EPF, recruits are assigned an intensive daily regimen divided between five hours of [[Manual labour|manual labor]] and five hours of study and indoctrination known as "Product Zero". Scientology courses required to complete the EPF include:<ref>{{cite web |last=Ottman |first=Martin |date=19 April 1996 |title=Affidavit of Martin Ottmann (19 April 1996) |url=http://www.xenu-directory.net/documents/ottmann19960419.html#Brief_Description_Of_My_Scientology_Career_In_The_Sea_Org |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201113150644/http://www.xenu-directory.net/documents/ottmann19960419.html#Brief_Description_Of_My_Scientology_Career_In_The_Sea_Org |archive-date=November 13, 2020 |access-date=November 13, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Pressley |first=Karen Schless |title=Joining the Sea Org |url=http://escapingscientology.com/bonus-material/joining-the-sea-org/ |access-date=November 13, 2020}}</ref>
*''Basic Study Manual'', an introductory course in [[Study Tech]]nology, a simplified version of the ''Student Hat'' course.
*''Introduction to Scientology Ethics'', a basic course in [[Scientology ethics and justice]].
*''Basic Sea Org Member Hat'', a course on the basics of membership in the Sea Org and what is expected.
*''Welcome to the Sea Org'', a series of taped lectures Hubbard originally gave new recruits in October 1969.
*''Personal Grooming Course'', a course on personal hygiene.
The EPF has no definite schedule. Recruits graduate from the EPF when all required courses have been completed and upon successfully undergoing a mandatory "7A Security Check" and approval by a "Fitness Board".<ref>{{Cite web |date=2006-05-10 |title=Immigrant Petition for Special Immigrant Religious Worker Pursuant to Section 203(b)(4) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (the Act), 8 U.S.C. 5 1153(b)(4), as described at Section lOl(a)(27)(C) of the Act, 8 U.S.C. 5 1101(a)(27) |url=https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/err/C1%20-%20Immigrant%20Religious%20Workers/Decisions_Issued_in_2006/May102006_03C1101.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170612194125/https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/err/C1%20-%20Immigrant%20Religious%20Workers/Decisions_Issued_in_2006/May102006_03C1101.pdf |archive-date=2017-06-12 |access-date=2025-01-05 |website=U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services |language=en}}</ref> They may then join the Sea Org as full members.<ref name="kent-brainwashing">{{multiref2 |1={{Cite web |title=Brainwashing in Scientology's Rehabilitation Project Force (RPF) |first=Stephen A. |last=Kent |author-link=Stephen A. Kent |date=September 13, 2000 |orig-date=November 7, 1997 |url=https://www.hamburg.de/contentblob/109286/412b6fd56956a72b3b19eca2ec65beba/data/brainwashing.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170825022035/https://www.hamburg.de/contentblob/109286/412b6fd56956a72b3b19eca2ec65beba/data/brainwashing.pdf |archive-date=August 25, 2017 |website=[[Government of Hamburg]]}} |2={{cite journal|last=Kent|first=Stephen|author-link=Stephen A. Kent|date=September 2003|title=Scientology and the European Human Rights Debate: A Reply to Leisa Goodman, J. Gordon Melton, and the European Rehabilitation Project Force Study |journal=[[Marburg Journal of Religion]]|publisher=[[University of Marburg]]|volume=8|issue=1 |doi=10.17192/mjr.2003.8.3725}} }}</ref>

=== Code of a Sea Org Member ===

Sea Org recruits verbally agree to an 18-point pledge as part of a swearing in ceremony. Members formally reaffirm their acceptance of this code annually on Sea Org Day, August 12, the anniversary of the day the Sea Org was founded.{{r|melton2003|page=54–56}} The ''Code of a Sea Org Member'' includes such promises as:
:1. I promise to help get ethics in on this planet and the universe, which is the basic purpose of the Sea Org.
:2. I promise to uphold, forward and carry out Command Intention.
:5. I promise to uphold the fact that duty is the Sea Org member's true motivation, which is the highest motivation there is.
:12. I promise to be competent and effective at all times and never try to explain away or justify ineffectiveness nor minimize the true power that I am.
:18. I promise to make things go right and to persist until they do.

{{anchor|contract}}
===Billion-year commitment===
According to Hubbard, the Sea Org's mission is "an exploration into both time ''and'' space".{{r|urban|page=124}} Sea Org members act as goodwill representatives and administrators of Scientology; all policy and administrative posts in the church's key organizations are held by Sea Org members.{{r|melton2003|page=49}} Sea Org are housed in communal housing called ''berthing'', and receive a basic allowance of about $50 per week.{{r|wright-apostate}}

In accordance with [[Scientology beliefs and practices|Scientology beliefs]], members are expected to return to the Sea Org when they are reborn; the Sea Org's motto is {{lang|la|Revenimus}} ("We Come Back").{{r|atack|page=175}} Members must therefore sign a symbolic billion-year commitment, pledging to "get [[Scientology ethics and justice|ethics]] in on this planet and the universe".{{r|urban|page=125}} The church contends that the agreement is not a legally binding contract but merely a symbolic demonstration of the dedication members are expected to give to the organization, and that they are free to leave if they wish. After signing, members report to the Estates Project Force, the Sea Org's induction program; [[J. Gordon Melton]] writes that members may take several years between signing the commitment and attending the induction. Once induction is completed, the final decision to join is made.{{r|melton2003|page=54}}

{{Anchor|freeloader}}Members who leave the Sea Org are issued a "freeloader's bill", retroactively billing them for any auditing or training they received. Although the bill is not legally enforceable, these Scientologists may not receive services at any Scientology organization until they pay it and perform an amends program.<ref>{{cite web |last=Farley |first=Robert |url=http://www.sptimes.com/2006/06/24/Tampabay/The_unperson.shtml |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604102718/http://www.sptimes.com/2006/06/24/Tampabay/The_unperson.shtml |archive-date=June 4, 2011 |title=The unperson |publisher=St. Petersburg Times |date=24 June 2006}}</ref>

===Marriage and family===
{{see also|Scientology and abortion|Scientology and sex|Cadet Org}}
From the early 1970s to the start of the 21st century, Sea Org members' children were often placed in the [[Cadet Org]]. Sea Org members may marry one another but are not permitted to marry outside the organization; extramarital sex is also prohibited. Couples with children must leave the Sea Org and return to other staff positions within the church until the child is six years old; thereafter the children are raised communally and allowed to visit their parents in the Sea Org on weekends or about an hour a day.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.latimes.com/local/la-scientology062690-story.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080131193459/http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-scientology062690,0,425562,full.story |archive-date=January 31, 2008 |title=Defectors Recount Lives of Hard Work, Punishment |date=June 26, 1990 |first1=Robert W. |last1=Welkos |first2=Joel |last2=Sappell|website=[[Los Angeles Times]] }}</ref> Children of members have themselves joined the Sea Org when they came of age.{{r|melton2003|page=57}} Several former members have said they were advised (or even forced) to have an [[abortion]] to avoid being sent to lower organizations. Scientology presents itself as opposed to abortion and actively speaks out against it in its publications.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Kent|first=Stephen A.|title=Scientology -- Is this a Religion?|author-link=Stephen A. Kent|journal=[[Marburg Journal of Religion]]|volume=4|number=1|date=1999|pages=1–56|publisher=[[University of Marburg]]|doi=10.17192/mjr.1999.4.3754|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://exscientologykids.com/sea-org-2/ |title=The Sea Org / Cadet Org |website=[[Exscientologykids.com]] |date=September 27, 2012 |access-date=17 August 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Lattin |first=Don |url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=%2Fchronicle%2Farchive%2F2001%2F02%2F12%2FMN171898.DTL |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080312184658/http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=%2Fchronicle%2Farchive%2F2001%2F02%2F12%2FMN171898.DTL |archive-date=March 12, 2008 |title=Leaving the Fold: Third-generation Scientologist grows disillusioned with faith |publisher=San Francisco Chronicle |date=12 February 2001}}</ref>

===Ships and land bases===
{{See also|Church of Scientology#Bases and campuses}}
[[File:Freewinds starboard.jpg|thumb|The church's cruise ship, the ''[[Freewinds]]'', staffed by Sea Org members]]
In 1967, the Church of Scientology purchased the 1936-built ferry [[HMS Royal Scotsman|''Royal Scotsman'']], which it renamed the ''Apollo'', for use as Sea Org's [[flagship]]. 

In 1975, the church sold the Sea Org's ships and moved the organization to land bases around the world, which as of 2003 operated in Clearwater, Copenhagen, London, Los Angeles, Mexico City, [[Saint Hill Manor]] in the UK, and Sydney, with smaller offices in Budapest, Johannesburg, Madrid, Milan, Moscow, and Toronto.{{r|melton2003|page=53}}

In 1987, the church purchased a ship, ''La Bohème'', which it renamed ''[[Freewinds]]''. [[OT VIII]], the highest auditing level of Scientology available, is exclusive to the ''Freewinds'' and can only be undertaken there. The ship also hosts various courses, seminars, conventions, and events, including the annual ''Maiden Voyage'' celebration.{{r|reitman|page=284}}<ref name="slate2011">{{cite magazine|url=http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/2011/12/valeska_paris_and_the_scientology_cruise_ship_what_happens_onboard_.html|title=What Do You Do on a Scientology Cruise Ship?|first=Brian |last=Palmer|magazine=[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]]|date=December 1, 2011|access-date=May 29, 2015}}</ref>

===Rehabilitation Project Force===

{{main|Rehabilitation Project Force}}
[[File:RPF Los Angeles.jpg|thumb|Sea Org members performing manual labor on the Rehabilitation Project Force]]
The Rehabilitation Project Force (RPF), established in January 1974, is an immersive disciplinary program aimed at isolating and reconditioning members through intensive ideological re-education and labor. Originally it was for Sea Org members who had fallen short of church expectations, failed [[List of Scientology security checks|security checks]], or violated certain policies, but it was increasingly used as a form of punishment or a cheap labor pool for construction work. RPF groups operate within Sea Org compounds; while there are no physical locks on the doors, participants are closely watched and their movements controlled. Many ex-Sea Org members have reported grueling work and harsh treatment. On the RPF, one works eight hours of physical work six days a week, such as painting, plumbing, and upkeep of grounds. Members also spend five hours a day studying with a partner.{{r|melton2003|pp=62–68}}

Former Scientologist Jon Atack argued, in ''[[A Piece of Blue Sky]]'' (1990), that treatment of Sea Org members in the RPF was a "careful imitation of techniques long-used by the military to obtain unquestioning obedience and immediate compliance to orders, or more simply to break men's spirits".{{r|atack|page=206}} One former member, [[Gerry Armstrong (activist)|Gerry Armstrong]], said that during his time in the Sea Org in the 1970s he spent over two years banished to the RPF as a punishment. He wrote,

{{blockquote|text=It was essentially a prison to which crew who were considered nonproducers, security risks, or just wanted to leave the Sea Org, were assigned. Hubbard's RPF policies established the conditions. RPF members were segregated and not allowed to communicate to anyone else. They had their own spaces and were not allowed in normal crew areas of the ship. They ate after normal crew had eaten, and only whatever was left over from the crew meal. Their berthing was the worst on board, in a roach-infested, filthy and unventilated cargo hold. They wore black boilersuits, even in the hottest weather. They were required to run everywhere. Discipline was harsh and bizarre, with running laps of the ship assigned for the slightest infraction like failing to address a senior with "Sir". Work was hard and the schedule rigid with seven hours' sleep time from lights out to lights on, short meal breaks, no liberties and no free time&nbsp;...<p>When one young woman ordered into the RPF took the assignment too lightly, Hubbard created the RPF's RPF and assigned her to it, an even more degrading experience, cut off even from the RPF, kept under guard, forced to clean the ship's [[bilge]]s, and allowed even less sleep.</p> |author=Jon Atack in ''A Piece of Blue Sky''{{r|atack|page=206}}}}

=== Uniform insignia ===
Source: {{r|uniformseries}}

; Officer ranks - [[Shoulder board]] insignia
<gallery heights="150" style="text-align:left;">
Sea_Org_Commodore_rank.png | [[wikt:commodore|Commodore]]
SeaOrg-OF-5.svg | [[wikt:commodore|Captain]]
SeaOrg-OF-4.svg | [[wikt:commander|Commander]]
SeaOrg-OF-3.svg | [[wikt:lieutenant commander|Lieutenant commander]]
SeaOrg-OF-2.svg | [[wikt:lieutenant|Lieutenant]]
SeaOrg-OF-1b.svg | [[wikt:lieutenant junior grade|Lieutenant (junior grade)]]
SeaOrg-OF-1a.svg | [[wikt:ensign|Ensign]]
Sea Org Warrant Officer.png | [[wikt:warrant officer|Warrant officer]]
Sea Org Midshipman.png | [[wikt:midshipman|Midshipman]]
</gallery>

; Ratings - Sleeve insignia†
<gallery heights="50px" style="text-align:left;">
SeaOrg-OR-7.svg| [[wikt:chief petty officer|Chief petty officer]]
SeaOrg-OR-6.svg| [[wikt:petty officer first class|Petty officer first class]]
SeaOrg-OR-5.svg| [[wikt:petty officer second class|Petty officer second class]]
SeaOrg-OR-4.svg| [[wikt:petty officer third class|Petty officer third class]]
</gallery>
† No sleeve insignia for Able Bodied Seaman and Swamper ratings.

==Analysis==

[[File:A Childhood in Scientology.ogv|thumb|Interview of someone who joined the Sea Org at 16 years old]]
Several scholars, writers, and former members have compared the Sea Org to a [[paramilitary]] group.<ref name="paramilitary"/> In ''[[Tom Cruise: An Unauthorized Biography]]'' (2008), [[Andrew Morton (writer)|Andrew Morton]] called it a "fraternal paramilitary organization", and wrote that members are instructed to read ''[[The Art of War]]'' by [[Sun Tzu]], and ''[[On War]]'' by [[Carl von Clausewitz]]. He wrote that Scientology leader [[David Miscavige]] created an elite unit within the Sea Org called the "SEALs", named after the [[United States Navy SEALs]], who receive better lodging, sustenance, and uniforms than other Sea Org members.<ref>{{cite book |first=Andrew |last=Morton |author-link=Andrew Morton (writer) |title=Tom Cruise: An Unauthorized Biography |title-link=Tom Cruise: An Unauthorized Biography |year=2008 |pages=126, 135–137}}</ref>

[[Lawrence Wright]] wrote in ''The New Yorker'' in 2011 that the Sea Org used small children drawn from Scientology families for what he described as [[Forced labour|forced]] [[Child labour|child labor]]. The article described extremely inhumane conditions, with children spending years in the Sea Org, sequestered from mainstream life.{{r|wright-apostate}}

==See also==
* {{Section link|Scientology ethics and justice|Sea Org ethics}}
* [[Scientology officials]]
* [[List of Scientology organizations]]

==References==
{{Reflist|2|refs=

<ref name="atack">{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/pieceofblueskysc00atac/ |title=A Piece of Blue Sky: Scientology, Dianetics and L. Ron Hubbard Exposed |first=Jon |last=Atack |author-link=Jon Atack |date=1990 |publisher=[[Lyle Stuart|Lyle Stuart Books]] |isbn=081840499X |ol=9429654M}}</ref>

<ref name="melton2003">{{cite book |editor1-last=Davis |editor1-first=Derek |editor2-last=Hankins |editor2-first=Barry |year=2002 |title=New Religious Movements and Religious Liberty in America |first=J. Gordon |last=Melton |author-link=J. Gordon Melton |chapter=Chapter 3: A Contemporary Ordered Religious Community : The Sea Organization |publisher=Baylor University Press |isbn=0929182642 |ol=3572139M}}</ref>

<ref name="miller">{{cite book |last=Miller |first=Russell |author-link=Russell Miller |title=Bare-faced Messiah : The True Story of L. Ron Hubbard |title-link=Bare-faced Messiah |ol=26305813M |isbn=0805006540 |date=1987 |publisher=[[Henry Holt and Company]] }}</ref> 

<ref name="nrmarlia2003">{{cite book |last1=Davis |first1=Derek |url=https://archive.org/details/newreligiousmove00davi |title=New Religious Movements and Religious Liberty in America |last2=Hankins |first2=Barry |publisher=Baylor University Press |year=2003 |isbn=0918954924 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/newreligiousmove00davi/page/n56 48]–49 |ol=3572139M |url-access=limited}}</ref> 

<ref name="paramilitary">{{multiref2 |1={{cite book |title=Comprehending Cults: The Sociology of New Religious Movements |first=Lorne L |last=Dawson |author-link=Lorne L. Dawson |year=2006 |publisher=Oxford University Press |ol=72434M |isbn=0195411544 |page=38 |quote=Members of the paramilitary Sea Org sign billion-year contracts of absolute loyalty and service to the highest leadership of the Church of Scientology.}} |2={{citation |last=Squires |first=Rosie |title=The L. Ron scandal |publisher=Sunday Telegraph (Sydney, Australia) |date=November 29, 2009 |quote=The Sea Org is like a military organization. You live in cramped quarters, are served food in the cafeteria area and you basically work from 8:30 in the morning through to 11:15 at night. (former member Aaron Judge)}} |3={{cite web |first=Anderson |last=Cooper |author-link=Anderson Cooper |url=https://transcripts.cnn.com/show/acd/date/2005-12-02/segment/01 |title=Inside the Church of Scientology |work=[[Anderson Cooper 360°]] |date=2 December 2005 |quote=It's very much a military organization. You wear a uniform, there's saluting, marching, standing at attention. |access-date=December 2, 2009 |archive-date=April 16, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160416014750/http://edition.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0512/02/acd.01.html |url-status=live }} }}</ref>

<ref name="reitman">{{cite book |last=Reitman |first=Janet |author-link=Janet Reitman |title=Inside Scientology: The Story of America's Most Secretive Religion |title-link=Inside Scientology: The Story of America's Most Secretive Religion |date=2011 |isbn=9780618883028 |ol=24881847M |publisher=[[Houghton Mifflin Harcourt]] }}</ref>

<ref name="uniformseries">{{Multiref2 
|1={{Cite book |chapter=Flag Order 3891 - Attachment 1 - Sea Organization Rank and Rating Insignia |date=7 August 1986 |title=Sea Organization Uniform Series Flag Orders |author=Int Officer's Council |publisher=Church of Scientology International}}
|2={{Cite book |chapter=Flag Order 3891R - Attachment 1 - Sea Organization Rank and Rating Insignia |date=13 February 1989 |title=Sea Organization Uniform Series Flag Orders |author=Int Officer's Council |publisher=Church of Scientology International}}
}}</ref>

<ref name="urban">{{cite book|last=Urban|first=Hugh B. |author-link=Hugh Urban |title=The Church of Scientology: A History of a New Religion |title-link=The Church of Scientology: A History of a New Religion |publisher=[[Princeton University Press]] |year=2011 |isbn=9780691146089}}</ref>

<ref name="wright-apostate">{{cite magazine |last=Wright |first=Lawrence |author-link=Lawrence Wright |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2011/02/14/the-apostate-lawrence-wright |title=The Apostate : Paul Haggis vs. the Church of Scientology |magazine=[[The New Yorker]] |date=February 14, 2011}}</ref>

}}

{{Scientology|state=expanded}}

{{#related:David Miscavige}}
{{#related:Scientology officials}}
{{#related:Church of Scientology}}

[[Category:Scientology organizations]]
[[Category:Religious orders]]
[[Category:Religious organizations established in 1967]]
[[Category:Paramilitary organizations based in the United States]]