Photo By Petty Officer 2nd Class Sasha Ambrose | 260113-N-IX644-1003 (Jan. 13, 2026) FALLS CHURCH, Va. U.S. Navy Master Chief Religious...... read more read more
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For 47 years, the U.S. Navy’s Religious Program Specialist (RP) rating has carried on a legacy of service that stretches back to the start of the Chaplain Corps 250 years ago. Numbering about 750 Sailors, these specialists are tasked with a mission unlike any other, both combat-ready protectors and compassionate leaders, they are entrusted to guard the spiritual well-being of their fellow Sailors.
Master Chief Religious Program Specialist Christopher Johnson, a native of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, serves as the Force Religious Program Specialist at the U.S. Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery in Falls Church, Virginia.
“My role entails ensuring our religious ministry teams are properly manned, trained, and equipped to deliver tools that enhance our warfighters' spiritual readiness,” said Johnson. “Essentially, we want to make sure that every warfighter is ready to meet their maker. I know that sounds harsh, and that's the extreme, but if we can prepare them and their families to accept the worst, then we know they can meet smaller difficulties and rise to the occasion.”
Johnson initially enlisted in 2004 as an undesignated Sailor, but a friend in boot camp who was striking for RP inspired him to select the rating for himself during career week, and once he was accepted, he never looked back.
“The journey has been a struggle, but in a good way,” Johnson explained. “As a junior Sailor, I never got the billets I wanted; I always ended up in the assignments the detailer needed filled. However, each one of those prepared me for the future, though I had no idea at the time how it would all make sense.”
Johnson wanted to be assigned to an operational unit, but he got orders to the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72), which was undergoing a refueling and complex overhaul (RCOH) at Newport News Shipbuilding at the time.
“That tour ended up being one of the most demanding, yet most rewarding, experiences I've ever had,” Johnson recalled. “I had only been on board for about six to eight months, and we bombed our department in the spotlight inspection, and our chaplain had been there for maybe 60 days. He stood up in front of the CO and said, ‘Sir, the failure of this inspection is my fault because I did not prepare my team. But I promise you, by the next inspection, we will be ready.’ He had only caught the tail end of the inspection period, but he didn't run from the department's failures. He accepted it as his own responsibility instead of making excuses. About a year later, at the next inspection, we scored in the high 90th percentile.”
As one of only six master chief religious program specialists, Johnson, alongside Capt. William Hlavin, the Navy Medicine chaplain, are responsible for keeping the Navy’s healthcare providers in the fight so they can ensure warfighters are physically able to get to the fight and stay there.
“I just try to carry myself to the highest standard and ensure that what Sailors see is what they get,” Johnson said. “As I teach about spiritual readiness, I try to exemplify it in my own life. I hope Sailors see something different in me, not because I want the spotlight, but because I'm trying to be a lighthouse — shining a light so others can see the way. Hopefully, that allows them to gravitate towards me just to have a conversation.”
Johnson believes that there are four core components that every warfighter should identify for themselves and carry with them throughout their career and life — their meaning, purpose, values, and a call to service.
“The mission remains the same, whether you’re at sea or ashore; the only thing that differs is the focus,” Johnson concluded. “Being an RP is all about service. It has to be in your heart to want to help others, this is a calling to a higher purpose. It's about putting yourself last in order to lift others up.”
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| Date Taken: | 01.14.2026 |
| Date Posted: | 01.14.2026 15:29 |
| Story ID: | 556217 |
| Location: | FALLS CHURCH, VIRGINIA, US |
| Hometown: | FORT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA, US |
| Web Views: | 37 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Exceed the expected: Religious Program Specialists celebrate 47 years of service, by PO2 Sasha Ambrose, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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