Evening star., 1922-11-19
MEN
=. SKILL in MANY TRADES
Must Be Qualified Telegraph Operators
and Have Working Knowledg Of
Wireless Apparatus.

I this work at the Navy's radio school
] at the naval training station, Great
Lakes. near Chicago.
! Young men with previous expert
ence or knowledge In telegraphy OF
| electricity who enlist In the Navy are
given the privilege of taking a
! twenty weeks course in the Navy's
! radio school,
Designated as 'landsmen for radio
| men, some few recruits arrive at the
| school nearly every day. They are
promptly enrolled in the schools
first-week class. under competent in
structors. and their special education
/ and training begins.
F., II aptitude is shown and satisfac-
tory progress made. they advance
! weekly from the more elementary to
! the more advanced classes: from
! theory to manipulating and operating
! the apparatus under conditions simi-
! lar to those found in actual service
| to measurements of the values and
i effects of the forces employed: to OBJ
servation and study of the various
! types of equipment employed, such as
arc converters. vacuum tubes for
| transmitting and receiving, complete
, radio telegraph and telephone IN
! stallation. radio compasses, sound
wave equipment, etc.
Actual Conditions Simulated.
A number of complete installations
| have been made at the school simu-
lating actual conditions to be met
with on board ship. on shore or on
aircraft. Thus. the students may
visualize in connection with the sub
lects under discussion or study.
They must master the system of dots
and dashes comprising the Continen-
| al-Morse radio code as they progress
in their studies. proficiency in
Ia nf
teen words per minute being required
upon entrance into the school, with a
proficiency of twenty-five words per
minute upon graduation.
The students are subject to the
| usual military discipline. military
drills and athletics being included
In the course of instruction. Glasses
| and lectures are held from 9 am. to
3:15 pm. daily. except Saturdays and
Sundays. The school Is kept clean
| and in order Ey the students. a daily
| cleaning period from 3:15 to pm.
being set aside for this purpose. eX-
cept on Saturdays. when the entire
school building and the apparatus is
gone over by the students from am
to noon. Deserving men who are
not behind in their studies are grant
ID liberty Saturday. afternoons and
sundays and also after school hours
during other days of the week In
special cases.
School Self-Sustainink.
The school is self-sustaining within
the naval organization. as only naval
officers and enlisted personnel are
engaged in the instructional work
and the routine work Of the school is
performed by the students.
Upon graduation from the school
the men are rated as petty officers and
are sent to the fagships of the At
lantic and Pacific fleets for assign
mcnt by the fleet radio officers to
individual ships or units. Their first
duties are performed in company with
experienced radiomen. principally for
the purpose of testing their rella-
bflity under service conditions and in
order that they may acquire conf
dence in themselves.
Probably in<no other line of human
endeavor are men more subject to
examination for land line or radio
telegraph operators. or when they
first begin to actually handle traffic
on their own responsibility.
!. The usual sea duty for radioman
is two years. During this period he
may perform duty on such types of
vessels as battleships. destroyers. col
liers. tugs, submarines. and even or
aircraft. with the fleets. Meanwhile,
he may have circumnavigated the
globe or he may not leave our terri
torial waters. depending on the ves-
sci or vessels to which he has been
assigned.
At the end of two years sea duty
he is usually granted the privilege
of two years duty at one or more or
the Navys radio stations on shore.
stations which stretch from the Phil
ippines to Annapolis, Md; from the
West Indies and the Gulf OF Mexico
to the Canadian border on our At
iantic and Pacific coasts, and to the
Bering sea in the arctic region.
A Navy radioman gains increased
knowledge and experience from the
performance of his daily tasks and
from his travels while performing
'these tasks. Upon rehabilitation
from the service he Is usually well
qualified to enter our ever-growlng
commercial radio field with advantage
to himself and to our national In
terests.