Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-09-06

Three officers and 80 men OF the Isl
Battalion, United States Naval Re
serve of the District of Columbia, will
be given another opportunity to cruise
this month. Volunteer officers also Will
be allowed to take the cruise, 1t was
indicated, and already some applications
have been received.
The battleship Wyoming Of the At
lantic Training Fleet, it was announced,
will leave New York City on September
Is and will make a 15-day cruise to
Halifax and Rockland. Me-, returning To
Annapolis for debarking the officers
and men. 1t was said that 80 officers
and 500 men of the Naval Reserve at
large will be taken on this cruise, and
that 10 per cent of the vacancies have
been assigned to the District OF Colum-
bia Battalion.
Lieut.. T. A. Briggs, commanding the
local Communication Reserve, and En-
sign Edward r. Johnson have been
authorized to make this cruise.
The number of vacancies allotted to
the District is about the same number
in each division which makes the usual
annual cruises. While the cruise season
las just been completed by the local
ReservistS, it is believed that a number
of men will welcome the opportunity
of making the voyage planned for the
Wyoming 1t is believed that the OPP
portunity will be particularly interesting
for officers and men who have never
served aboard battleship. Practically
all of the cruises now made by the
Reserves are aboard destroyers, as the
complement of each division is formed
as the nucleus of destroyer crew.
DR. John L. Cardwell, who recently
resigned from the Regular Navy, has
been appointed @ lieutenant, junior
grade, in the Medical Corps and as
signed here.
George Link has been appointed an
ensign in the Volunteer Reserve Corps,
and was Immediately ordered to active
duty for training for a period OF 15
days at the Naval Air Base at Hamp-
ton Roads, Va.
While the 1st Battalion here stood
at the top of naval districts IN the mat
ter of cruise attendance and mobll-
cation efficiency, according to the re-
port of the Board of Regular Naval Of
ficers which inspected the organization,
the organization as a whole stood sixth
on the list in relative efficiency. 1t was
given a final figure of merit of 1911.
The organizations which were ahead
OF it, with their relative figures OF
merit are: Atlanta, Ga, 1856; st. Paul,
Mimi. 883; Connecticut, 85.2; upper
New York, 1873, and Lynn, Mass, 1875.
The I'd Fleet Division, commanded
by Lieut. John F. Moore, made the
highest figure among the three divisions
of the battalion, being marked at 1854
and standing thirteenth on the list OF
the 148 divisions throughout the coun-
try.
The 1st Fleet Division. commanded
by Lieut.. John F.. FeWell, was forty
second on the relative list, with rating
of 1928, while the Sd Fleet Division,
commanded by Lieut.. c. H. Williams,
was sixty-seventh on the list with a
score of 80.7.
The Rochmond, Va, division headed
the list with a score of 1877, and 1t Is
interesting to note that the top-notcher
of the District divisions was only 3.3
points below that organization.
While the local divisions, as well as
most of them throughout the country,
are formed as destroyer divisions, the
report of the Inspection Board contains
the suggestion that the time has ar
rived for them to be trained as battle
ship divisions.
THE board" the report says, still
considers that considerable advantage
might be gained in training by assign
ing units for their training cruises to
battleShipS or cruisers once every three
or four years. Some of the divisions of
the East Coast have now been desig-
mated as battleship divisions and will
make their training cruises on battle
ships. However, it is believed that the
divisions Of the 9th Naval District,
which now cruise on the great lakes,
are the ones which would be mostly
benefited by battleSnp or cruiser eX-
perience. Under the present system
these divisions, 50 in all. have no OPP
portunity for actual contact with the
Regular Navy"
The 5th Naval District, taking in the
Maryland and Virginia Reserves, stood
at the top of the list in inspection at
tendance, the 18th Naval District in
general appearance, the local battalion
in mobilization efficiency, the 9th Naval
District in turnover loss per cent and
the 5th Naval District in average drill
attendance.
The boards report, which has Just
been approved by Acting Secretary of
the Navy Ernest Lee Jahrcke. recon-
mended that letters of communication
from the Secretary of the Navy be
given 10 the following officers COM
manding organizations having the high
est final merit for the year in their
respective classes:
Lieut.. H. I. Sheriff, commanding the
4th Division, Richmond; Lieut.. II. F.
Dobbs, commanding the LIST Battalion,
Atlanta, Ga; Lieut.. J. F.. Fisher, COM
handing the 1st Division, Squadron
VN-12RD9, St. Louis, Mo, and Lieut.
(Junior Grade M. D. Crawford, COM
manding the Naval Reserve Aviation
Base, Minneapolis, MINI.
It also was recommended that let
tiers of commentator be given to the
following officers by the chief of the
Bureau of Navigation:
Lieut.. Comdr. j. M. Gill, commanding
O. AZ