The Rehabilitation Project Force, or RPF, is the Church of Scientology's program for members of its Sea Organization who have allegedly violated expectations or policies. This may include members who are deemed to have hidden evil intentions towards Scientology, members who are unproductive in their work or who produce poor-quality work.
The program includes manual labor tasks and the study of L. Ron Hubbard's works. The rehabilitation program may take more than a year to complete, and the Church has been accused of overworking and mistreating its participants.[2][3][4] Critics have characterized the RPF as a forced labor and re-indoctrination program comparable to the Soviet gulag system.
Development
The Rehabilitation Project Force developed out of a predecessor group, the Mud Box Brigade, which was formed aboard L. Ron Hubbard's private fleet in the late 1960s.[5]: 125 [6]: 341 The mud box is a small perforated screening box fitted to the suction pipe in the bilge of a ship, and is designed to catch larger solid waste before it can choke the pipeline and potentially damage the pump. The Mud Box Brigade was assigned to clean out the mud box as well as fuel lines, water lines, bilges and other parts of the fleet's ships.[6]: 341
Hubbard defined the role as being essentially a punishment duty for unsatisfactory workers: "More candidates will be appointed regularly and promptly every time I find a freeloader who is loafing on post and drifting with the wind."[6]: 349 Hubbard later clarified that "(T)his group is the most downstat [unproductive] and one gets assigned to it by being a freeloader, invisible on post, loafing and really goofing up on one's job."[6]: 341
In 1969, Hubbard replaced the Mud Box Brigade with the Rehabilitation Unit, again intended for those removed or disciplined "as ineffective or trouble." Following an evaluation, the individual was to receive a set of "specific recommendations which if followed will rehabilitate the individual as a highly effective and worthwhile Sea Org member." Hubbard instructed that "(T)he unit is [to be] worked hard during the day on a rigorous schedule on jobs assigned by the Review Chief handling corrective areas and jobs needing remedy and repair. The Unit itself is thus made into an effective ship's review team. It works on a one job, one time, one place formula completing each job before moving into the next. Each individual thus earns the right to the remedial services he or she will receive."[6]: 341
In January 1974, the Rehabilitation Unit was replaced with the Rehabilitation Project Force, or RPF. According to Hubbard, "the RPF has been created by the Commodore [Hubbard] so that redemption can occur. That is basically its only purpose." He identified four categories of people who were to be assigned to the RPF: "rockslammers" (people deemed to have hidden evil intentions, as detected by the E-meter); people who were unproductive and scored poorly on the Oxford Capacity Analysis personality test; "repeated stat crashers", people who were held responsible for declines in Scientology organizations' productivity; and "overt product makers", people who produced poor-quality work. As before, the unit was to work on "one job, one place, one time." A five-hour study period was to be implemented each day to improve the individuals' knowledge of Scientology.[7]
Description
According to David G. Bromley and Douglas E. Cowan, the RPF involves a daily regimen of five hours of auditing or studying, eight hours of work, often physical labor, such as building renovation, and at least seven hours of sleep.[8]Mike Rinder wrote that the RPF is a "program for Sea Org members who are troublesome or failures. They are segregated from the rest of the group, undergo security checks, and perform manual labor all day. They may not speak to others."[9]: 302–303 The uniform of RPF members is a black boilersuit.[7][10][9]: 105
RPF members work hard manual labor, which is called MEST work in Scientology parlance, often without the proper tools or safety equipment. They must run (not walk) everywhere they go, are restricted to base, have no liberties, eat leftovers from the crew mess hall, do the dirtiest jobs, and receive only one quarter of regular pay.[7][9]: 105 [11]: 206 RPFers receive no training for the types of construction jobs they frequently do, and must learn on the job.[9]: 105–106
The RPF was originally intended to last no more than a couple of months, where the assignee would learn Scientology auditing, if he or she was not already an auditor, by the "read it, drill it, do it" method. RPF members would then co-audit each other to better themselves and make each other more ethical and productive.[2]
RPF's RPF
Sea Org members newly assigned to the RPF who do not want to be on the RPF are first assigned to the RPF's RPF until they choose to join the RPF.[5]: 125 [6]: 451 When an RPFer messes up, they are assigned to the RPF's RPF,[6]: 451 formerly called the "Bilge Brigade",[6]: 46
Such members are segregated from other RPFers, get a maximum of six hours sleep per day, receive no pay, no training, no auditing, and may only work on the dirtiest and most demeaning jobs until they make amends or decide to join the RPF. Usual tasks were cleaning sludge and oil from a ship's bilge, or cleaning out the grease traps under the galley.[6]: 451 [9]: 106, 145
Controversy
Critics of Scientology, including former Scientologists, have called the RPF an "unusually brutal prison" and an "Orwellian prison",[12]: 2, 321 and have compared it to the gulag system of the Soviet Union and the Chinese re-education camps.[5]: 126 [13]: 90 [14] Leaving the Sea Org, even from the RPF, results in what Scientology calls "freeloader debt" or a "freeloader's bill": retroactive billing for any auditing received or any Scientology training received while in the Sea Org, which can run into tens of thousands of dollars. While this "freeloader debt" is not legally binding,[15] many former Scientologists have reported that they felt trapped by the "freeloader debt" policy.[16]
Douglas E. Cowan and David G. Bromley state that various scholars and observers have come to radically different conclusions about the RPF and whether it is "voluntary or coercive, therapeutic or punitive".[8]
Castile Canyon School
One location, known as the Castile Canyon School or "Happy Valley", has been identified as a former RPF facility.[17] It was located east of San Jacinto, California and southeast of Gold Base, near the reservation of the Soboba Band of Luiseño Indians.[17] This site was sold by the Church in 2002 to the Soboba Band, who turned it into a resort.[18]
Motto
The RPF is what you make it. The RPF is where you make it.[7][6]: 340
^ abGallagher, Eugene V.; Ashcraft, W. Michael, eds. (2006). Introduction to New and Alternative Religions in America (Vol. 5). Westport CT: Greenwood Press. ISBN0-275-98712-4., p. 181
^ ab"Thurston, Susan (31 January 1999) "Bitter partings; Some former Scientologists say life at the church's Gilman Hot Springs complex resembles a slave labor camp. Church officials say its enemies are out to destroy the organizations" The Press Enterprise of Riverside, California, p. A-1, 31 January 1999
^Fetbrandt, Steve (30 July 2006) "Soboba Band: Tribal Chairman Invests in Semi-pro Football Team; Game Plan; Part-owner Wants Players To Be Role Models, Draw Youths" The Press Enterprise of Riverside, California, p. B-1, 30 July 2006
