The Cordova daily times., 1920-12-24
PERSONNEL OF NAVY lS0NE0F
 BIG PROBLEMS


 ficer personnel of the navy should be augmented to full strength and placed on permanent basis with the least possible delay" Rear Admiral Thomas Washington, chief of the bureau of navigation, in his annual report to Secretary Daniels describes the per sonnel situation as the most serious problem before the navy. Even though 1900 reserve and temporary officers are taken into the regular es- tablishment as permitted by law dur ing the coming year the shortage of officers May 1, 1921, will be equal to seven years output of the naval aca- demy. Admiral Washington declares.
 From present indications and un- less remedial legislation is obtained the temporary appointment of rear admirals, 67 captains, 154 command CTS and 330 lieutenant commanders will have to be revoked July, 1921 due to shortage of officers in the lower grades, the report says.
 More attention must be paid to the personnel side of the conduct of the navy, Admiral Washington says. as- serting that "this point of view does now prevail"
 "The attention of the navy and of all those who in any way enter into the activities of the navy must be concentrated equally on the ships and the men who man them," the report says. "The long period of material reconstruction covering new building programs has diverted too large a share of service attention from ques tions of personnel"
 Commenting on the enlisted man situation, Admiral Washington states that the navy has very largely re- covered from the postwar reaction that virtually stopped recruiting. At the rate new men are now entering the service the authorized strength will be reached by July l, next his re- port states. Due to the loss of a large percentage of the navy's older enlist ed men, however, the report says that the enlisted force has not yet gained normal efficiency.
 designations during the fiscal year from the officer force have been seri- ous, Admiral Washington says, the line being particularly hard hit. At the end of the year there were more than 450 fewer line officers in the service than on November 1 de- spite the fact that a class had gradu- ated from the naval academy in the meantime. A total of 606 officers re- signed from the regular navy during the year, of which 94 were line offic- CTS, leaving a shortage of about 240O officers in the permanent establish ment.
 A considerable portion of the report was devoted to the naval reserve force, an annual appropriation of at least $500,000 for the administration of this service being recommended
 "The expenditure of money for this purpose from year to year will at first appear perhaps large" says the ad miral. "but when it is considered that the maintenance of this force in an efficient state will not only save the government a large share of the amount that would be expended for the purpose if war should again find us unprepared, but will practically in sure victory on the sea following a declaration of war, an insurance is gained at comparatively small cost and as such is measure of economy"
 The World war demonstrated that the navy could not rely on the mer- chant service for officers and men in time of war, Admiral Washington states, urging in this connection that the members of the merchant ma rine be given at least the funda mentals of naval training for use in time of emergency.
 The naval reserve force now con- sists of 2S,000 officers and 235,O0O enrolled men, the report says, the ma jority of whom are interested in the work and will probably remain in the service. More than 5000 of the off cers and fully 100000 of the men are qualified for the duties of their rank on combatant ships of the navy in time of war, Admiral Washington adds