Spiritual and moral chaplains potential in military unit

At the present stage of development of the Russian Armed Forces, the service of military chaplains plays an important role in the issues of psychological support of personnel. In author’s opinion, military chaplains have a wide range of opportunities for solving problems on the spiritual revival of the Russian army and increasing the morale of military. The article reflects the data of an empirical study conducted in several stages with different groups of clergymen. Relying on the methodological and theoretical ideas about the relations between the subject of activity and his abilities, stated by S. L. Rubinstein’s, in particular the statement that specific activity requires specific qualities from the individual, as well as V. D. Shadrikov’s assertion that success activity is determined by the systemically interacting system of abilities, the author pursues the goal: to reveal the competencies (professional and personal) abilities of chaplains of the military unit and to justify the need for them to receive a psychologist knowledge. Conducted with the help of the questionnaire and the “Ideal” method developed by E. I. Kuzmina and Z. V. Kuzmina, the study allowed to draw important conclusions for practice: putting high professional requirements to oneself, the chaplains of the military unit have a powerful spiritual and moral potential in solving tasks for the spiritual support of military. However, studies have shown that assistants to commanders for working with religious military lack psychological knowledge in their professional activities. Obviously, a higher level of development of the competencies of the military chaplains can be achieved due to the strengthening of the psychological component in the system of training assistants to commanders of units to work with religious military. As a result, we will receive highly qualified specialists who, at the level of joint professional activity with commanders, assistants to commanders for work with military and psychologists of military units, will raise the spiritual and moral level of military, and thus solve the problem of the spiritual revival of the Russian army.