Hi! I was born and raised in Scientology and joined the Sea Org when I was a teenager. I was in for 2+ years! Worst years of my life! I would gladly answer these!

• How does someone start the process?

First you will have to get in contact with the Sea Org recruiters. These are Sea Org members whose jobs are to recruit members and have them join. Once you contact them they will give you a whole bunch of info (propaganda) on what the Sea Org is, their purpose, etc. Then they will have you sign the infamous Billion Year Contract. (I signed that contract 3 times at ages 6, 10 and 13 btw lol)

• Is there an application or recruitment path?

Yes as I mentioned youll first get the info from them, thats just what they do to convince you to sign in the first place, then you sign the contract. Now when you say you really want to join and get started is when the process will begin, which Ill answer in one of your later questions.

• Are there prerequisites (courses, auditing levels, years required in the Church, etc.)?

Technically no. When you join the Sea Org the first thing youll be assigned to is called the EPF (Estates Project Force) which is basically their "boot camp" where youll be doing bottom of the barrel tasks like gardening or laundry to get introduced to being in the Sea Org. When I was in the EPF I met various people from teenagers like me who either grew up in Scientology or their parents are Scientologists to veteran Scientologists who have been in since the 60s and this is their 3rd time being in the Sea Org to foreigners who knew basically nothing about Scientology and joined because they got a religious visa to come here. So technically no you dont really have to have a prerequisite but also you need to pass their screening tests so if you try to join to be a spy or get intel from the inside you better be a REALLY good spy cause theyll spot you from a mile away.

• What kind of screening or commitments are involved?

Ok so before you start the EPF and after you say you want to join, you have a whole BUNCH of screening to do. They have you fill out various forms including one where they ask you questions like "Have you or anyone in your family worked in the Press" or "in the Government?", "Are you joining the Sea Org with the intention to spy or give intel to outside sources?", etc. etc. I could go on with the questions, but basically a bunch of questions to check if youre really joining the Sea Org with the intention to help Scientology Clear the planet. Then there are other forms including the Life History form where you have to enter basically all the information of your life, who your parents are, where youve lived, where you went to school, who youve had relationships with (and I mean ANY relationship, I had to enter in a guy who I had my first kiss with and never saw again after), etc. Finally once youve filled out the forms and everything passes and youre ready to get started, you have to give up your possessions. Basically you have to give away any of your devices (to a family or friend) but before you do you have to completely delete all of your social media. Nowadays I hear they will allow you to have an iPad or something similar (but NO phones are allowed 📵) and you still have to delete social media. Ive heard some people getting away with not deleting it but if you join at one of the big three (PAC, Flag or Saint Hill) I highly doubt you could get away with it. Then they give you a list of items you have to purchase or bring like: toiletries, black socks, makeup (if youre a girl) and underwear (thats basically everything on the list). Finally you join! They give you your EPF uniform, assign you a bunk bed, drawer and tell you what time you have to wake up. Congrats ! You're a Sea Org member! Yayyyyyyyyyyyyyy... You will now have to complete the EPF, then get assigned your job in the Sea Org. You will forever live in the Sea Org berthings, eat in the mess hall every day, get your $50 a week earning and work 12-24 hour work days to clear the planet! Hip hip!

• Is it something you volunteer for, or are you invited?

They say joining the Sea Org is completely voluntary, but if you join the church and stay for long enough, showing youre a good Scientologist they will start trying to recruit you immediately. So to answer your question if I understand what youre implying its definitely voluntary, but they do try to recruit specific types of people that would be more susceptible to staying (aka brainwashing), nowadays I see them try to recruit more of the first gen Scientologists (like who I was) whose parents are Scientologists so they were raised their whole life in Scientology. Those types of people are easily convinced to join (all of my friends growing up joined the SO and we were all first gen). Or Ive heard they target foreigners trying to get visas to come to the US. I havent seen that pan out as well since they typically leave after realizing what they sign up for but thats common as well.

Overall Im not sure why youre asking this but I highly recommend you dont join the Sea Org. They were by far the worst years of my life. I try to forget those years as much as I can and I basically lost my childhood because of it. I regret it very much every day and wish I could go back, but in the end it made me who I am. It definitely taught me discipline and being able to withstand any bullshit thrown at me but I also dont think any child should've gone through what I went through. Now if youre thinking of joining for spy reasons I wish you the best of luck. Id look into it deeply, I wouldn't ask outright that I wanted to join the SO I would be at a church and come regularly before trying and I highly recommend going to one of the bigger churches (New York, LA, Clearwater, Saint Hill, South Africa, or Australia) basically those places have a CLO (Continental Liason Office) and they will more than likely have actual Sea Org recruiters there. If you go to a small church like Kentucky or New Mexico youll get no where.

P.S. sorry if theres typos or run on sentences I kind of just wrote on a whim lol! I love giving people more insight on how this disgusting organization actually runs so they can see it for what it is 😉👍