Evening star., 1934-12-23
.HE armory Of the 1st Battalion.
United States Naval Reserves,
in the District Of Columbia,
l will be In darkness this week,

4dCb tIldt tilcIc ID u StIluBeut uluIUa-
ton on the number Of drills which may
be held with pay this fiscal year, and
the holiday period was selected in
order to give the personnel a little
freedom.
The brief respite is expected to bring
the personnel back to duty in the new
year full of determination to reach the
top Of the list among Naval Reserve
units throughout the country when
the final marks for the annual inspec-
tions are made public by the Navy
Department. The tentative date for
the inspection Of the local battalion
has been set for April !, and the OH
GERS and men, when they return to
duty during the new year, will work
with that idea in mind and attempt to
perfect their training work so as to
give an excellent display to the board
OF Regular officers when they put the
local citizen sailors through their tests.
The boards examinations are being
made sitter each year and in accord
with the boards plans the local officers
are making the instruction work here
more stringent in an effort to train the
men to the highest state of efficiency,
so that they can pass at the top of the
list. While the local battalion men,
bers are handicapped to some extent
in the way of training facilities, never
theless they. are making the most of
what is provided for them, and the
board undoubtedly will give some
credit for the initiative shown in sim
uiating shipboard conditions in an
armory which one time served as q
commercial store building.
While number of Reserve organi-
zations throughout the country still
have training ships assigned to them,
the local Reservists have been without
such facilities for several years.. The
only training vessel they have had Is
a cabin launch, which was assigned
here a couple of years ago and is used
for taking weekend trips on the river
However, II was explained that no ex-
tensive training can be obtained with
such a boat.
Without adequate armory facilities
and no training ships, it was pointed
out that the local organization is seri-
ously handicapped. Although located
in the Washington Navy Yard, the
local ReServists do not even have the
opportunity Of getting aboard ships, as
few of them come here to have work
done, as is the case in other navy
yards on the coast. 1t formerly was
the practice of the Navy Department
to send a destroyer here TO remain for
number of weeks. SO that the Off
GERS and men of the local battalion
could. use it each drill night for in
struction purposes, but this practice
apparently has been abandoned, as no
vessel has been here for this purpose
for many months.
At one time special destroyer was
assigned to the Chesapeake Bay and
tributaries for this work, making
stops at the various ports which had
Naval Reserve units. These included
Baltimore, Washington, Richmond and
Norfolk Under this plan both officers
and men were kept in close touch with
the developments aboard ship and had
the opportunity to use the machinery,
particularly the fire control. This was
considered especially valuable for
them, as each division of the local
battalion would form the nucleus of a
destroyer crew in the event Of q ma
tional emergency. .
The local Reservists are hoping that
the new year will bring a return to
this practice at least. OF course, they
would like to see vessel assigned here
permanently as training ship, ship
with which they could become thor
oughly familiar and aboard which they
could take their annual training
cruises of two weeks during the Sum-
mer months. This also was q practice
here, but it was withdrawn as an econ
omy move, as it was considered expen-
sive to keep these vessels in service just
for training purposes.
Local Naval Reservists heard with
considerable interest during the week
the announcement that Capt. John
Downes, U. S. N, now chief of staff of
the commander, Scouting Force, had
been selected for promotion to the
rank Of rear admiral. Capt. Downes,
before he went to his present assign
ment, was in charge of the Naval Re-
serve division of the Bureau of Navi-
cation, and while here he was a fire.
quent visitor to the armory of the local
Reservists.
Capt. Downes was born in Boston,
Mass, November Is, 1879, and was ap-
pointed to the United States Naval
Academy by the President of the
United States in September, 1897. He
is the fourth generation of his family
to serve in the Navy. His ancestor, the
first Capt. John Downes, entered the
naval service on board the United
States frigate Constitution in 1900 and
had active duty until his death in
1854.
Capt. Downes was awarded letter
of commendation for his service during
the World War as assistant in charge
of the Reserve officers classes at the
Naval Academy. He served as COM
manding officer of the U. S. s. Poca-
hontas, U. s. 8. Bridgeport, U. s. s.
Omaha and U. s. s. Detroit, and also
served as commander of Submarine
Division II. He was appointed aide to
the superintendent of the Naval Acad-
emy and also served another tour of
duty there as head of the department
of navigation. From 1926 until 1928
he was on duty in the Canal Zone as
superintendent of the Panama Canal
and was in charge of the Naval Re-
serve division of the Bureau of Navi-
cation from 1881 until June, 1894,
when he reported for his present du-
ties. His home Is in jamestown, R. I.
A closer contact between officers Of
the Reserves and the Regular Navy is
being urged by the Navy Department
as a result of a recent observation by
q commandant Of a naval district, who
said: II have felt that one Of the
duties I have as COM
of this district is to endeavor
to instill in the Naval Reserves a high
order of efficiency and morale, be-
cause am firm believer in the Re-
serve. We never will have sufiicient
regular personnel to meet our needs
in time Of war and must rely upon
q reserve. OF course, another great
value of the Reserve Is the contact
they can make with civilians which
Is not always open to regular officers.
If the Reserve knows the needs of