NEWPORT, R.I. — A school for U.S. Navy chaplains is returning to Rhode Island.
Democratic U.S. Sen. Jack Reed said Friday the Navy plans to relocate the Naval Chaplaincy School and Center and about 20 jobs from Fort Jackson in Columbia, South Carolina to Naval Station Newport in Rhode Island, effective March 1, 2019.
Reed says the school was in Newport in 1951 and moved to South Carolina because of consolidations made in 2005.
The school is responsible for chaplains’ education and professional development.
Currently, new chaplains begin training at the Officer Development School in Newport, then go to South Carolina. Navy chaplains will no longer have to go to the Army base to continue their training.
There are more than 800 Navy chaplains. Reed says he’s thrilled the school is returning.
