SCI
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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."
== Structure ==
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.
High Winds is the magazine of the Sea Org. The first issue was released on Sea Org Day 1980.
=== 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 boot camp. 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. Married couples are separated for the duration of the EPF and not allowed to have private or intimate contact with each other.
While on the EPF, recruits are assigned an intensive daily regimen divided between five hours of manual labor and five hours of study and indoctrination known as "Product Zero". Scientology courses required to complete the EPF include:
Basic Study Manual, an introductory course in Study Technology, 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". They may then join the Sea Org as full members.
=== 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. 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.
=== Billion-year commitment ===
According to Hubbard, the Sea Org's mission is "an exploration into both time and space". 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. Sea Org are housed in communal housing called berthing, and receive a basic allowance of about $50 per week.
In accordance with Scientology beliefs, members are expected to return to the Sea Org when they are reborn; the Sea Org's motto is Revenimus ("We Come Back"). Members must therefore sign a symbolic billion-year commitment, pledging to "get ethics in on this planet and the universe". 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.
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.
=== Marriage and family ===
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. Stephen A. Kent described that for adult Sea Org members with minor children, their work obligations took priority, damaged parent-child relations, and has led to cases of severe child neglect and endangerment.