Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-09-13


ports received state that the training |
Is highly satisfactory.
The following advance information |
regarding an additional requirement for |
the inspection by the Naval Reserve In I,
spection Board has beer made avail |
able to Naval Reserve organization COM |
manderS in order that division and bat |
talon commanders may begin prepare. |
tons once:
The board, Mt It's next inspection, will
require each division to conduct n gem
eral quarters drill, n simple battle prob
lem to be included. The drill will be
brief, but complete enough to bring out
any weakness in the division battle or
ganization and in each individuals UNI
derFtanding of his duties
A general outline OF the drill follows.
Man general quarters stations; execu-
tive officer to receive reports from gun
divisions, ship control. engineers divi-
sion, medical department, repair crews
and communication control, and report
the ship ready to commanding officer,
who In turn will report to the>Gcnior
member OF the Board Of Inspection.
The board then will inspect the crew
at stations, after which the inspectors
will deliver to the commanding officer n
simple battle problem for immediate
execution. The problem will simulate
a daylight action with any enemy
destroyer or submarine, and will be
designed to test the efficiency and con-
troll of the ship in all OF its departments,
with special emphasis on fire control
A gun and loading drill will be con-
Quoted simultaneously with and as a
part OF the general quarters drill. II no
gun or loading machine is furnished
the unit, Its presence will be simulated
nevertheless.
It is not the boards intention, II was
stated. to require the rigging of voice
tubes or other means of communication
! to stations other than from fire control
to guns. Messengers may be used for
such other communication If desired.
The board will note the judgment, celer-
ity, thoroughnesS and lack of confusion
| and noise with which the problem is
| executed. Casualties will be introduced
by the board during the problem.
The reactions of the recipients and
| the system will be recorded Casual
| ties will include fire in action. damage
| above and below water line, top hamper
shot away, steering gear damage, gun
casualties casualties in engine and fire
| rooms and TO communication, such as
signal yards shot away, radio antennae
| or system out of order, voice tubes car
ried away, etc Where all divisions Of
a battalion form the crew of one vessel
but one general quarters drill will be
held. If each division of battalion
| forms a crew of a separate vessel there
will be a separate drill for each division.
To cover the details of the above drill,
all officers should familiariZe themselves
and their divisions with the provisions
of the manual of ship and gun drills, 1t
was stated. especially as regards organi-
zation for battle, and with the manual
of interior control. which covers interior
communications, nomenclature OF sta
| lions. etc. Damage control. officers are
hreminded. should b. carefully thought
out. with especial reference TO the ships
| plans and organization
1t vas pointed out to the officers
| that there is great room for the eXer-
else of ingenuity on the part of officers
| in Stimulating actual conditions, and
initiative in this direction will be given
! due consideration by the board. The
board points out that it realizes that
the strength Cf the various divisions
will not in all cases permit the COM
plete manning of all stations aboard
ship, or even in individual stations,
such as repair parties, ship control, etc,
and that it may be necessary to pro-
vide skeleton organizations where
shortage must be met Also, divisions
may not have. ready access to all pub
| ncatlonS needed, such as manual Of
interior control. but in cases where
possible to do so officers should visit
ships in commission for study of such
pamphlets and further TO observe the
conduct of drills on ships performing
active duty.
A further requirement follows: Dur
ing general quarters the navigator may
be required to solve a simple mooring
board problem, involving a change from
designated station relative to guide to
a new station relative to guide Moor
ing board sheets will be provided by
the board before the problem
1t was explained that the drill is in
! tended as basis of the training that
would be required in the event the di-
visions or battalions were sent to sea
in vessel without further augmen-
| tation from the Regular Navy.
Several officers and men from the
| local battalion will be authorized to
proceed to New York this week to Join
the battleShip Wyoming, Of the At
lanttc Training Squadron, for the pur-
pose of making a cruise to Halifax and
Rockland, Me. The cruise will require
Is days, beginning Tuesday, and the
officers and men will be debarked when
the vessel reaches Annapolis.
The men are expected to get much
valuable experience on the battleship.
as many of them never performed duty
| aboard a vessel Of this type. AS a mat
ter Of fact. the Naval Inspection Board
in its report made a recommendation
that some of the divisions now organ
lied as destroyer crews be reassigned
as battleship divisions, both for the
purpose of giving them training in this
class OF ship and to get them in closer
contact with the regular establishment
| than they usually have on their annual