Evening star., 1925-12-27

received his nf9t connlSSloH da ''''
engineer in the Navy. Since that tune
he has performed duty as pubilc
works officer Of the following navy
wards and naval districts: Puget
Sound Wash: Boston. Mass, and the
first naval district. He has also been
assigned to duty at Charleston, :. G.;
Portsmouth. y. H., and Norfolk Navy
Yards. Admiral Gregory reached lhe
rank of captain on October IL, 1910,
and since his first appointment as
Chief of the Bureau of Yards and
Docks. on January 4, 1922. he has hello
the rank of rear admiral. Capt.
George a. Mckay. L. :. n. will con.
tinue as assistant 10 the chief Of the
bureau.
.T-nifornly excellent" is the ma n
ner in which Rear Admiral imam IA:
Shoemaker. Chief of the Bureau ol
Navigation, has characterized lhe en-
listed situation of the Navy LOT the
year THAT greater appreciation OF
the advantages of maintaining con
tinuouS service is recognized ny the
enlisted personnel of the naval estap-
lishment is evidenced by the hlgh re-
enlistment figures for 1874 ana lsZ2'
For Ie24 the re-enlistment figure was
"a per cent. while for 1925 this was
~ Der cent. Based on total OF
Sc 600 men, losses from causes othef
than failure to re-enlist upon dlS-
charge have been reduced from l'.o
per cent in 1924 to 1872 per cent IN
1925 In other words, this means
that greater efficiency was attained IN
the progressive training OF the fleet
with 1865 fewer first enlistments.
4 definite reduction. it is pointed QUA
by Admiral Shoemaker. has been ac-
complished during the past year IN
the number Of men lost TO the service
py deSerlion and not returned or de
livered. The personnel loss TO me
naval establishment on account of de-
sertion was larger during 1928 and
1924 than from any other cause. Dur
ing the past year, however, great
strides have been made by the de-
parlment in reIegating this element of
personnel loss To fifth place, with but
net loss of 99l men. as compa red
with the 1924 loss from the same
! cause of 3,l61. 1t is certainly most
gra tifying. Admiral Shoemaker de
Clared. that the percentage of returns
/ from desertionS has increa sed from 30
! per cent in 1924 TO 7S per cent in 1925.
with the result that the average num-
ber of net desertions per da Y has been
! reduced for the same years from SO
per cent TO % per cent. The number
of gross desertions-that is, the total
of all men declared in deSertioH-has
been reduced from 1881 in 1924 TO
4.651 in 1926"
Twelve thousa nd enlistments Will
expire during the ensuing year. and
of this number 5000 are re-enlisted
men. Authorities in the Navy Depart
ment are hopeful that a "re-enlist-
ment figure as high as so per cent
! mil h.a
! with consequent small number of
first enlistments, the percentage loss
for causes other than failure to re-
enlist will be even less than that for
1878, viz. 1872. 1t may he mentioned
that this latter figure is the lowest
reached in many years"
A special board of three members
met at the Navy Department THIS
week for the purpose OF selecting hVe
members of the 1924 Naval Academy
class TO he assigned permanently to
the Naval Construction Corps. The
board was composed OF Capts. G. H.
Rock and W. G.. DuBose. on duty in
the Bureau of Construction and Re
pair, and Capt. W. d. Leahy of the
Bureau of Navigation.
Ten medical officers, five dental Off
GERS and three nurses. all of the Navy,
p,Nduated last week at the Naval
| Medical School, Washington. ID. {.
cant A. w. Dunbar. /. ). n. ASSIST
ant Chief of the Bureau of Medicine
and Surgery, Navy Department, ad-
dressed the class on the subject OF
Esprit de Corps" as also did Capt
James c. Pryor, L. s. n. command
OF the school. Certificates were pre-
sented by Capt. Dunbar to the fol-
| lowing:
Hardy V Hughens, Walter A.
Fort and stephen r. Mills: I-ieuts.
fiunior srade) Thomas Fl. Hayes. Wal
ter C.. Kilhury. Everett II. Dickinson
and Clifton A. Young: Lieuts. A. A.
Marsteler, Melvin S. Stover and Fred
W. Granger.
Dental officers. all lieutenants Gun-
ior sradel-Leon NJ. Billings. John NJ.
Thompson. Theodore ID. Allan, Otis A.
Peterson and Sidney p. Vail.
Nurses-Chief Nurse Sarah Almond.
Pearla W. Hoyle and Ruth +. Cleaver.
That the Navy intends to carry out
&c literally as possible the recommen-
dations Of the Morrow Air BOARD Is
| forecast by the plans now belns lot
! mulated by officials in the Navy De
nartment Issues OF a controNerSi" SID
patnre are being ironed out, and those
noints recommended by the board re
ouiring legislation. drafts OF Wh'cii
have been prepared. Will shortil pe
| submitted to the Secretary for nhai
approval. ,.,,
ton are: % The creation OF an assist
| ant secretary for aviation: (Z) tenn
| porarv command rank for Junior off1-
! cers detailed to special aviation duty
| the performance OF which merits
higher rank: (3) authorization FOR car
ryjng as extra numbers officers who
have specialized in aviation 80 long
| that they have jeopardlzed their se-
| lection for promotion. and tA the
| award of hying decorations to those
aviators who have exhibited extraor-
| dinary heroism in aviation.
| Completion has practically been
made Of the study Of the personnel
ouestions involved in the recommen-
| dations. This board. headed by Rear
| Admiral M. NJ. Taylor, L. :. n. has
| referred its report to the Bureau OF
| Navigation for suggestions before its
! submission to the Secretary in Its
| final form.
There are two outstanding points.
| 1t Is understood, in disagreement.
First, there is considerable opposition
| in naval aviation circles to the pro-
posal of increa sing employment of en-
listed men in aviation duty. while the
second controversial point at issue is
the best procedure to be adopted
whereby the naval airmen can secure
| line experience. This last point 1S
one of the most perplexing which the
! department will he called upon to
| solve. as it will involve flying pay.
sea duty for junior aviation officers
| before coming up for promotion, and
number OF other factors.