Evening star., 1926-04-11

the Maryland National Guard has
planned to encamp there, peglnnlhs
July %. :,
The 121st Engineers of the local
National Guard, the 10Th Military Po-
lice Company and Maj. Gen. Stephan
and his division staff held their an
nual encampment there last Summer
However, the Engineers this year Will
go to Fort Humphreys, but, as pointed
cut before, the 29th Division STAN
and the military police company al
ready have completed plans to go
there, which, however, may be upset
by a ruling of the Circuit Court ad'
verse to the State.
A. Acomprehensive drill schedule has
heen mapped out for the United
States Naval Reserve Battalion of the
District of Columbia by Lieut.. Comdr.
Finney Bascom Smith, who has Just
assumed command of the organlZa'
ton. Every officer and man In the
outfit will be required to take part
in the drills and the schedule provides
a place for each, according TO oincers
of the battalion.
Schools of engineering, communica-
ton, including signaling, seamanshlp'
navigation, ordnance, have been
and an orderly course has been map
ped out in each. The courses are so
arranged that the men taking them
may. by attending drills and schools
regularly, advance themselves TO the
next higher rating and eventually
reach the commissioned grade.
The divisional instructors designated
are Lieuts. Richardson. Sullivan and
StinemetZ; engineering, Lieut.. LOCK
hart; communications, Lieuts. moore
and Fewell, Ensign Eimers ana ChieI
Radio Electrician Monar.
General instruction in the prellmi-
naries of naval duties for recruits
have been assigned to Ensign Daisley.
Comdr. Smith and Lieut.. Harry }.
Nichols. executive officer of the bat
talon, will alternate in ordnance IN
struction for the officers and this
feature is being given much stress py
these two officers, who hope that they
will be able to engage IN target
practice this year that will amount TO
something. Heretofore, when the local
outfit has gone out on the Eagle boat.
formerly assigned here, they have had
only subcaliber practice, but now
that the United States destroyer Alien
has been assigned here and will make
her first cruise this Summer as train
pected that the big guns will be used
in the target practice.
Both Comdr., Smith and Lieut..
Nichols are anxious that the local re-
seryists be so we'll trained as gun
crews before the time for the annual
cruises arrive that they will be able
to make some telling scores when they
engage in the practice, probably in
Gardeners Bay, off Long Island, N. Y.
While the officers are being given in
struction in the technicalities of gun
fire. the men are being organized into
gun crews and are receiving instruc-
ton in loading, aiming and firing.
Plans are being formulated for
recruiting campaign for the purpose
of increasing the enlisted strength of
the Reserve here. The divisions now
are not up to full strength, but 1t Is
the hope of the officers that enough
Young men of the city may be at
tracted to the work in order to make
each division a fair size.
Under the new organization scheme,
each division of the Reserve is made
up so as to form a skeleton crew of
a destroyer. There are men of each
rating of the service in each division,
or, rather, that is the theory upon
which the department is working, but
so far it has not been able to carry
it out in practice. However, this
situation is not peculiar to the local
Reserve, but is brought about by condi-
tions forced by the Navy Department.
which made the Reserve so unattrac-
tive to the men by refusing promo
tions, denying pay, and other similar
causes that many of the war-trained
enlisted men have been forever lost
to this branch of the service.
The enlisted personnel at the local
Reserve at the present time Is so small
that it will not be possible to make
enough cruises to take out all the Of
ficers this Summer. Only two cruises
have been provided for, which. it has
been figured, is sufficient to take care
of the enlisted men, but the limited
allowance on each cruise for the Of
ficers will prevent many of them, even
those in the fleet Reserve, from going
with their men. While some effort, it
is understood, will be made to cruise
them aboard other vessels Of the fleet,
nevertheless this is uncertain and may
leave some of the officers without op-
portunity to get in the training period
required by law.