[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 188 (Friday, September 27, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61074-61075]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-24543]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Office of the Secretary


Proposed Collection; Comment Request

AGENCY: Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Personnel and 
Readiness).

ACTION: Notice.

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    In compliance with section 350(c)(2)(A) of the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995, the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Personnel 
and Readiness) announces the following proposed reinstatement of a 
public information collection and seeks public comment on the 
provisions thereof. Comments are invited: (a) Whether the proposed 
collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of 
the functions of the agency, including whether the information shall 
have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of 
burden of the proposed information collection; (c) ways to enhance the 
quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and 
(d) ways to minimize the burden of the information collection on 
respondents, including through the use of automated collection 
techniques or other forms of information technology.

DATES: Consideration will be given to all comments received by November 
26, 2002.

ADDRESSES: Written comments and recommendations on the proposed 
information collection should be sent to the Office of the Under 
Secretary of Defense (Personnel and Readiness) (Force Management 
Policy/Military Personnel Policy--Armed Forces Chaplains Board,) ATTN: 
Chaplain (COL) Horton, 4000 Defense Pentagon, Washington, DC 20301-
4000.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request more information on this 
proposed information collection or to obtain a copy of the proposal and 
associated collection instruments, please write to the above address or 
call at (703) 697-9015.
    Title, Associated Form, and OMB Control Number: Appointment of 
Chaplains for the Military Services; DD Form 2088 and DD Form 2741; OMB 
Control Number 0704-0190.
    Needs and Uses: Per 32 CFR part 65, in conjunction with 10 U.S.C. 
532 and 591, professionally qualified clergy persons shall be appointed 
as chaplains to provide for the free exercise of religion for all 
members of the military services, their dependents, and other 
authorized persons. Since World War I, the professional qualifications 
of clergy have been certified by the faith group of which these clergy 
are members. Religious organizations register with the Department of 
Defense for the purpose of endorsing clergy as fully qualified to serve 
as chaplains in the armed forces. No clergy person may become a 
chaplain without this endorsement, and the loss of this endorsement 
constitutes a loss of professional status. It also certifies the number 
of years of professional experience for each candidate.
    Department of Defense Directive 1304.19, ``Appointment of Chaplains 
for the Military Services,'' requires that religious faith groups be 
officially registered by the Department of Defense in order to endorse 
chaplains to the Military Services. This information collection is 
needed to ensure that religious faith groups are appropriately 
organized and authorized by their constituencies to endorse clergy for 
service as chaplains in the Military Services.
    The information in DD Form 2741, ``Ecclesiastical Endorsing 
Organization Verification/Reverification,'' is collected whenever a 
religious faith group initially seeks registration with the Department 
of Defense as an

[[Page 61075]]

ecclesiastical endorsing agency; it is reverified every 3 years 
thereafter. The form is sent by the religious faith group to the Armed 
Forces Chaplains Board (AFCB). DD Form 2741, ``Ecclesiastical Endorsing 
Organization Verification/Reverification,'' has been used to verify the 
continued eligibility of the religious organizations identified as 
ecclesiastical endorsing agencies. One-third of the organizations have 
been verified or reverified over the past year using this form.
    The DD Form 2088, ``Certificate of Ecclesiastical Endorsement,'' is 
used whenever an ecclesiastical endorsing agency submits a clergy 
person as a candidate to become a chaplain. The ecclesiastical 
endorsing agency sends it to the Military Service which the clergy 
person wishes to join.
    The three Military Services are required by DoD Directive 1304.19, 
``Appointment of Chaplains for the Military Services,'' to obtain a 
certification of the professional qualifications of clergy applying for 
the chaplaincy DD Form 2088, ``Certificate of Ecclesiastical 
Endorsement,'' also requests the name, address, number of years of 
professional experience accrued by the clergy person, and number of 
years of previous military experience. This information is used in 
computing constructive credit for determining grade, date of rank, and 
eligibility of promotion of appointees in the chaplaincies.
    Affected Public: Not-For-Profit Institutions.
    Annual Burden Hours: 616 hrs.
    Number of Respondents: 797.
    Responses per Respondent: 1.
    Average Burden per Response: .77.
    Frequency: On occasion/annually.

Summary of Information Collection

    The information in DD Form 2741, ``Ecclesiastical Endorsing 
Organization Verification/Reverification,'' is collected whenever a 
religious faith group initially seeks registration by the Department of 
Defense as an ecclesiastical endorsing agency; it is reverified every 3 
years thereafter. The form is sent by the religious faith group to the 
Armed Forces Chaplains Board (AFCB). The DD Form 2088, ``Certificate of 
Ecclesiastical Endorsement,'' is used on occasion, whenever an 
ecclesiastical endorsing agency submits a clergy person as a candidate 
to become a chaplain. The ecclesiastical endorsing agency sends it to 
the Military Service which the clergy person wishes to join.
    The three Military Services are required by DoD Directive 1304.19, 
``Appointment of Chaplains for the Military Services,'' to obtain a 
certification of the professional qualifications of clergy applying for 
the chaplaincy. This certification is rendered in the form of an 
ecclesiastical endorsement from the clergy person's religious faith 
group. An ecclesiastical endorsement is an essential part of the 
application process for clergy to become chaplains. DD Form 2088, 
``Certification of Ecclesiastical Endorsement,'' also requests the 
number of years of professional experience accrued by the clergy 
person. This information is used in computing constructive credit for 
determining grade, date of rank, and eligibility of promotion of 
appointees in the chaplaincies. Both the military and the religious 
faith groups insist on ensuring that only professionally qualified 
clergy serve as chaplains. Without this formal process, the chaplaincy 
would cease to exist as a professional corps.
    DD Form 2741, ``Ecclesiastical Endorsing Organization Verification/
Reverification,'' is used by religious faith groups seeking DoD 
registration as ecclesiastical endorsing organizations for supplying 
chaplains to the Military Services. Each religious faith group is 
required to certify that it is authorized by its memberships to act as 
the sole agency for the purpose of certifying and endorsing clergy to 
serve as military chaplains. After initial certification, these 
organizations are required to reverify this information every 3 years. 
This information collection is used by the AFCB to determine whether a 
religious faith group has met the requirements to become (or remain) an 
ecclesiastical endorsing agency, able to endorse clergy for service as 
chaplains. The AFCB regularly supplies the military Chaplain Services 
with a list of registered ecclesiastical endorsing agencies. The list 
is used in the chaplain recruitment/accession process to validate that 
candidates for the chaplaincy are endorsed by a group registered by the 
Department of Defense.
    DD Form 2088, ``Certificate of Ecclesiastical Endorsement,'' is 
used to certify that a member of the clergy is professionally qualified 
to become a chaplain. It requests information about name, address, 
professional experience, and previous military experience to be used in 
determining grade, date of rank, and eligibility for promotion for 
appointees to the chaplaincies of the armed forces. DD Form 2741, 
``Ecclesiastical Endorsing Organization Verification/Reverification,'' 
is used to request basic demographic information about religious 
organizations seeking to supply clergy persons to the Military Services 
to serve as chaplains. It requests the name of an official authorized 
to represent the organization to the Military Services, and it requires 
the organization to certify that it is authorized by its membership to 
act as the sole agency for the purpose of certifying and endorsing 
clergy to serve as military chaplains.
    The information collected from DD Form 2088, ``Certificate of 
Ecclesiastical Endorsement,'' has been used over the past several years 
by the three Military Services to ensure that those clergy who applied 
to become chaplains were professionally qualified and appropriately 
endorsed by their respective religious faith groups. DD Form 2741, 
``Ecclesiastical Endorsing Organization Vertification/Reverification,'' 
has been used to verify the continued eligibility of the religious 
organizations identified as ecclesiastical endorsing agencies.

    Dated: September 23, 2002.
Patricia L. Toppings,
Alternate OSD Federal Register Liaison Officer, Department of Defense.
[FR Doc. 02-24543 Filed 9-26-02; 8:45 am]
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