The Washington herald., 1915-01-10
Criticizes Local Militia.

/ The District Naval Militia has unuuaIi-
fed officers and an abnormal number of
rated men and is incapable of rendering
efficient service on board a man-of-war,
according to Capt. c. s. Williams, U. s.
n, commander : the U. S. S. Rhode Is
( land, which took the local embryo sailors
on their annual cruise last summer.
| The caustic criticism of the local mill
itia Is voiced in a report on the cruise
| by Capt. Williams, embodied in a booklet
| on Naval Militia Cruises just complied
| by Commander F. B. Bassett jr.. chief
of the division of naval militia affairs.
| Not only is the militia inefficient, de-
| clares Capt Williams, but members of
I the organization manifested a general in
! difference toward their work and tried
repeatedly to shi-k duty He added that
| most of the mlitamen evidently went
on the cruise to get a pleasant summer
vacation at the expense of Uncle Sam,
and not to learn TO be more efficient sail
Ors.
Officers Unqualified.
The organization. discipline, attention
| to duty. attention to uniforms, and gem
eral knowledge Of naval work in the Dis
! trlct organization was, in general fair"
/ reads the report. This organization re-
I
| ed men were expected to participate
whereas ia came on board. This fact, in
| connection with incidents which came to
| notice during the cruise created the inn
| preston that this organization did not
| take its military duties as seriously as
| some of the others and that many Of its
| members looked upon the cruise in the
nature of an outing. There appeared to
/ be a larg number of men who held
f1E,
and there was an abnormal number of
! rated men. For instance, in an organ
| liza tiou numbering ia men and twelve
| officers. there were nineteen yeomen. The
| hospital corps contained two hospital
stewards and seven hospital apprentices,
| first class, besides four hospital appren-
| tees. The organization contains good ma
| teriaI, but, to judge from the showing
made on the cruise, l do not consider it
| is ready. as a whole, to go on board a
man-of-war and render efficient service.
curing the hrst cruise great difficulty
was experienced in getting the watch on
deck at night, and as far as the North
Carolina and District of Columbia mil
itiRS were concerned. the task eventually
was practically given up as hopeless In
this connection it should be noted there
arc not nearly enough billets for the
ships regular complement, and with the
excess number of men on board during
these cruises several hundred men slept
where they best could. However, it was
apparent that on the part Of many of
the men of the two organizations men
toned there was q deliberate disposition
to avoid night watches. and the officers
Of the organizations failed to correct il.
This lack did not much matter on deck,
where there were sufficient men in the
ships force to meet ordinary emergen-
Cies. In the engineer department the lack
was seriously felt both day and night
when the ship was under way. as A con-
siderable number of the ships firemen
and coal passcrs had been transferred
prior to the cruise TO make room for the
militamen. Pursuant to the departments
orders. a number of sentry posts were
! established during each cruise. and here
the same indifference was manifested on
the part of the North Carolina and Dis
trict Of Columbia men. and the difference
between their conception of attention to
duty and that OF the men of the other
organizations could be more readily
mar. d, as the posts were comparatively
few in number and were under observa-
tion continuously or were visited at short
intervals.
Training Beneficial.
The training and experience had by
the mllua was undoubtedly very ben
eflcial. Many of the militia officers vol
unfairly SO stated, and it was apparent
to all who had tn militia under Observa-
tion. ct. the possible educational value
of the cruises was much deprecated be-
cause of the large number of militia on
| board during each cruise. AS has been
stated above. it was necessary for this
purpose of handling such large detach-
ments OF strangers, to preserve the naval
militia organization to a certain extent,
and to this extent their relation to the
ships organization was artificial. They
not only could not get the maximum
amount of actual experience in the
duties of men-of-warsmen. but they prbo-
ably received falsc impressions regarding
organization. routine, and methods with
which they would be expected 10 have an