Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1919-11-14
THE PROBLEM OF NAVY
PERSONNEL.

The PNOBLkM Of NAv1
PERSONNEL.
By FREDERIC J. HASKIN.
Especial Correspondents Of The AfguS).
wasAtngton, D. c., Nov. 10.---The Americaa
navy is fAcing . personnel emergency Of con
siderable proportions It is attempting to and
10000 lusy young Americans who are willing
to serve aboard ship under the stars ana
stripes for $35 . month with board, room ana
clothing II is attempting to do this IN the
face of the fact that an associate In the gov
eminent service. the shipping board. pays the
same men 500 month and keep for the same
work It is attempting to do SO in the face
of the fact that industry is bidding against IN:
dustry through the land for skillful hands 1t
high wages.
In November, 1918. the time Of the signing
Of the afmistice, there were In the navy. rough
ly, $4,000 men. OF this number 316,000 were
regular navy men and 2S5,O00 were naval re-
serves Nearly all Of these were enlisted Tor
the duration Of the war. As in the army, 30
in the navy, there was great scramble TO
get out of the service as soon ~ the war was
over But the navy had ahead Of 1t the task
Of bringing the boys home, and 1t was there
fore unable to release its duration-of-
men Immediately. 1t figured out scheme
of its needs for q year, and allowed the force
to disintegrate as rapidly as the men could be
spared, but not so rapidly as to interfere with
its important tasks. 1t planned thatt should
have 250,000 men in the service In July, 1917;
191 900 in October; 10000 in January, 1920.
and 143,00 on July Of that year when 1t ng-
ured that the navy would be back to normal.
As matter Of fact it has let men 80 nhuch
faster than was provided for in the schedule
and there are but 10000 enlisted men In the
navy today There are 10000 more Duration
of-the-war men ready for release. men who are
being relieved from such work as clearing the
North sea Of mines and the operation OF trans
ports By the time they are out there VIII be
5000 new recruits to take their place which
will bring the navy enlisted personnel down
to los, 900, which is regarded Is the bedrock
figure. From then on the lists are expected to
grow.
Already the recruiting campaign OF the
navy is being pushed vigorously and new men
are being introduced into the service at the
rate of 5000 month. As matter OF fact the
10000 men who are now in the service are by
no means thoroughly trained. OF them 1900
veterans know the game. and $1,000 are men
who have been recruited since the signing OF
the armistice and who, therefore, are in various
stages Of development as trained seamen.
Forty thousand of them are in the land estab-
lishment, chiefly at the training stations, while
10000 or so are at sea.
Because of the obvious difficulties that face
the navy in holding on to its men and getting
more I6CIult0 uuUcI YACSCuI Auuuct1ASA VoAAuA-
tions many more or less alarming stories have
been circulated to the effect that our great
new battleships were rustfng at the wharveS
of our navy yards for the lack Of men to oper-
! ate them.
Those who regard 10000 men in the navy
as b mere skeleton of fighting force should
bear in mind that during those months of 1917
which preceded the declaration Of war, the
navy personnel amounted to but $1,000, which
| is half its present numerical strength. To be
sure We have many more ships today than we
had in 1917, but those ships are mostly de-
stroyers and other vessels which require q
small complement Of men. One hundred men
can operate destroyer. and fight her success
fully, while it takes 1000 to man the flagship
Pennsylvania. It is therefore, probable that
the feet, even allowing for the increase In tts
size, is better manned today than 1t was in
those years before the war.
| Half the American feet is today in the
Pacific. The dreadnaughts New Mexico. Idaho
and Mississippi are the giants of the great
Pacific armada. These ships Of $4,000 tons
are the greatest floating fortresses in the world
today. These ships and other Of the new and
irst-class fighting craft Of the United States
are kept manned up to fighting strength ani
ready for action. The first thought Is for the
vessels that would be able to give best accoun
OF themselves in case of an emergency and fol
the auxiliaries that would support them. Suct
vessels are Kept ready Tor action and, ever
though the man power were much lower thar
1t is today, such vessels would be able to mee
any feet in the world and give good accoun
OF themselves.
America has vessels fully manned tina
would make up feet Of greater tonnage ant
greater numerical strength than that Of AM
other nation in the world except Great Britain
AT the time Of the signing of the armistic,
there were more men in the American nav,
than in the British navy and It is doubtful to
day II Great Britain has better enlisted per
lsonnel than has this nation.
The men who are coming into the nav,
today are very largely youngsters. 1t is no
ito be excepted that men of mature years an,
established earning capacity would enter tn
navy and accept navy pay. To be sure Their
are recompenses for service in the navy a
present. The sailor sees the world, and il
lgiven an opportunity for study and for learn
fling things that he would have under almos
no other circumstances. The mature man
however, is likely to take the job which nav
him most Immediately rather than listen t
the call Of adventure, experience, educations
Opportunities. So it is the boys who are com
ling into the navy.