Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1918-02-01
CERTIFICATES PRESENTED
292 SECOND RESERVE
OFFICERS GLASS
Continued from First Page

must do 50, or in the crisis be recruit
ed from civil life The new officers
Ia the navy have come from the ranks
and from civilian life without these
additions we could not have manned
our ships. and unless we train more
to be 1T to command. the hundreds Of
ships under construction win lack for
officers. Therefore We rejoice To vel
come you ana hundreds Of others from
the Naval Reserve who are trained
n the feet, into The goodiy company
OF naval officers.
Basis 0i aayal Reserve.
The basis for the creation of an
adequate Naval Reserve was Laid in
the epochal naTal act o. August %
9le On tho declaration Of war this
neN arm of she Nay had enrolled
0.o0O msn and 20e0 officers They
re Immediately called to active
duty To-day there are over $4,000
men ana SOC officers = Is larger
han the regular Navy when war was
declared and three times as large as
ID the Spanish-Amerlcan war. That
is d wonderful record for q service au-
thorized eighteen months ago It's
creation has made possible many
phases u the diversified work the
Navy has been called upon TO DO.
Those who complete the course today
and their comrades more than justify
The creation OF the Reserve When
you leave Annapolis today you WI
find Important assignments awaiting
you aud your promotion and achieve
ments viii depend upon yourselves
and nobody else.
Intensive Training.
You 20 from this intensive training
at Annapolis not rounded naval Off
GERS Here your instructors have
been diligent to teach and you have
been jealous to learn the rudiments
OF the noble profession into which you
IRE admitted They know and you
know that here the course is element
airy and but opens the door to you
You have been given here primary
instruction and learned to master the
varied duties that de7olYe upon an Off
Ger. Of the Navy That you have this
so well is a matter for self-congratu-
lation But yon know you have but
learned the FIRST lessons and that your
real preparation has just begun
When you 60 to your duty you begin
at the bottom There you must learn
from all your shipmates, from the sea
man to the Admiral, and be willing To
learn from all.
Amateurs Net Equal 90 Regulars.
While. the country rejoices that so
many young men have shown the
qualities for military leadership.
there is nowhere any thought that
amateurs are the equal of regulars,
that natural aptitude takes the place
Of long drill, or that enthusiasm can
ever displace the prosy and long study
and practice which alone make the
military officer Our main depend
ence for leadership must be upon men
who have made a profession Of arms
American faith in training officers for
the Navy is seen in doubling the
capacity OF the Naval Academy and
in postgraduate instruction for
graduates of the Academy When
peace comes we plan to lengthen the
course and to guarantee to our coun-
try the best naval officers by ex-
haustive courses in the many-sided in
struction which every naval officer
must possess. Our reliance is upon
training and training-and more train
ing. The more thoroughly officers are
trained the stronger the Navy, for in
the last analysis it is in the trained
personnel rather than in the material
that the strength of the Navy is to be
found
Men Like Meteors.
Now and then young man OF Mill
tary genius defies all rules and rises
to high command without the slow
processes which experience has shown
necessary for the making of an officer
There are no regulations for a genius
Like meteor, he defies limitations
that govern lesser stars. But only one
genius comes in a war, while many
men OF average ability rise to com
mand by the genius OF hard work
There is no easy and short road to
command at sea- The only way to
master the science of navigation is to
navigate You have have learned here
the foundation principles taught in
the Navy. Your mathematics viii be
of great value, but the only way to be
a good navigator is to sail the seas.
The same is true of gunnery and
everything a modern naval officer
must know You will find a hard and
rigorous course before you, but you
will be guided by well equipped Off
GERS who viii give you as much help
as YOU show yourselves ready to take.
Your capacity for learning will be the
measure Of your usefulness and fit
ness.
You Go To Fight.
/ congratulate you that you come
into the Navy in the day of its high
est efficiency. its largest expansion,
its strongest hold upon popular con-
fidence. and when it offers the largest
opportunity for serving your country
and making TIE supreme sacrifice
To the Navy has been assigned i'm
portant duties. new in their nature,
different in their accomplishment,
and so exacting as to make demand
upon the best you have in mental and
physical power 1t is no place for
any except the fittest. In peace times
il is an exacting profession, with its