>> True Information: What was actually issued on January 7, 1974, to begin the RPF was FO 3434 (not 3434RB which was a revision of FO 3434 years later) and it was issued by LRH Personal Communicator, Ken Urquhart, authorized by Authorization Verification and Correction Unit.

The stated goal was not to rehabilitate Sea Organization members “whose stats were down or who might be harboring subversive thoughts against Hubbard or his technology,” as Wright reported. In the issue itself it states that the RPF was created so that redemption can occur—“That is basically its only purpose.” 

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In brief, the Rehabilitation Project Force (RPF) is a religious program available only to a very small number of members of the Church of Scientology. Neither staff members who work in local Churches of Scientology around the world nor the Church’s parishioners qualify for this program. Only those who belong to the religious order of the Church of Scientology, the Sea Organization, may do the RPF, and then only for specific reasons, and then only of their own volition.

Sea Organization members share a common commitment to serve their religion at all times and to exemplify Scientology ethics by living up to enhanced ecclesiastical standards applicable only to the Sea Org. The purpose of the RPF is to provide a “second chance” to those who have failed to fulfill their ecclesiastical responsibilities as members of the Sea Organization and want to go through a program to improve.  Basically, those assigned are people who do not produce anything (non-producers), those who crash statistics and production; and people who create products which are destructive and not usable (overt product makers), all of whom require continual supervision and are a liability in the area.

The Rehabilitation Project Force is a voluntary program of spiritual rehabilitation. The emphasis is on the word “rehabilitation,” meaning, in this context, to restore one’s condition to an optimal spiritual state. It represents a free religious commitment by the individual to a spiritual discipline. The word “force” in this context means “[A] group of people working or acting together.” (Thorndike Barnhart Dictionary, 1992)

The program is based upon one of the oldest and most fundamental concepts in religion—a religious retreat in the form of a cloister focusing on intensive spiritual introspection and study, balanced by some form of physical labor. This practice is common to the religious orders of many other world religions in addition to Scientology, including Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism and the monastic orders of the Roman Catholic Church.

The RPF was created during the 1970s at the request of Sea Organization members seeking a means for a second chance. In such a situation, the individual is given the choice of either leaving the Sea Organization or participating in a religious program designed to provide the individual with an opportunity to progress spiritually and remedy past shortcomings—the Rehabilitation Project Force religious program. In addition to engaging in religious study and religious counseling on a daily basis, individuals on the RPF work eight hours each day as a team on tasks assigned.