Evening star., 1935-04-14

the Washington Navy Yard last Mon
day night. Although the three fleet
divisions which compose the local unit
usually drill on separate nights, while
the headquarters unit takes a fourth
night, all of the officers and men were
assembled at one time for the annual
inspection.
For more than three hours the
divisions. as units and as special de-
tails. went through the list of ma
neuvers and drills provided by the
board. As each division is organized
as nucleus of destroyer crew, each
had to be taken through special drills,
including firing problem. ship drills,
seamanship, signaling, first aid, etc.
First the check-up for drill attend
ence was held after the battalion was
formally presented to the inspection
officers. The organizations receive a
mark for their attendance on the basis
of the number of men present on the
inspection night, regardless of their
drill attendance record for the year.
Officers of the various units for weeks
had been urging their enlisted per-
sonnel to make special efforts to be
present on the inspection night and
the result of the campaign to have
their uniforms and equipment in the
best of condition was shown when the
three divisions were assembled on the
Grill hall floor as the inspection officers
came in.
The effective reorganization through
which the battalion has gone under
the direction of the new commander,
Lieut.. j. D. Sullivan. was evidenced
throughout the evening both in the
drills and in the class room instruc-
tion. Lieut.. Sullivan has devised a
thorough system of class room in
structiOn which takes the recruit
from the time he enlists and gives him
q certain period each drill night for
special instruction in the particular
line which he expects to follow
throughout his Naval Reserve career
Text books for this work have been
provided by the Navy Department ano
they are rigidly adhered to, with the
result that a man must get passing
mark in each class before he can be
advanced to the higher class and
possibly a higher rating in the en-
listed mans branch. These classes
are instructed by the divisional officers
and specially trained petty officers, and
they were working perfectly when the
board made its inspection during the
week. 1t is the first time in the post
war history of the local battalion that
such an organization has been effected.
Men enlisted in the Reserve now must
before getting into the petty officer
ratings. Furthermore. the recruit class
serves as method to pick only the
very best men for the service. There
is a great demand for enlistment in
the Reserve and to do this each appli-
cant is required to serve for three
months in the recruit class. If at the
end of that time he is able to show
aptitude for the service, he is enlisted.
If he does not show the proper inter-
est or it Is believed that he will not
make valuable sailorman. he is dis
missed. There now is waiting list of
men who hope to get into the organ
ization. However, the number of men
who can be taken in is limited. All
members of the Reserve receive a days
pay for each nights drill they attend
and thus the appropriations place a
limit on the size of the divisions.
However, there is hope that Con-
gress this year will provide suffl-
Cient funds with which to increase
the sizes of the various divisions,
and this will be distributed among
as many men as possible by limiting
the number of drills which each en-
listed man is allowed. They now aver
age about one per week throughout
the year. The officer personnel is
limited for the same reason. How
ever. many times there are officers
assigned to the volunteer class, who
are interested in being transferred to
the fleet branch, and they frequently
drill each week with the fleet Off
GERS, in the hope that when there is
a vacancy they will be selected This
Is rather encouraged by the Reserve
authorities, as it gives them a list
of eligibles from which to pick when
some officer of the Fleet Reserve is
transferred to the volunteers because
OF the necessity of leaving the city
or on account of the pressure Of
his private employment
With the annual inspection out of
the way the local reservists now are
awaiting for the boards report. This
will not be made until it completes
Its work of examining Reserve divi-
sions and battalions throughout the
country, as a relative standing or
marking cannot be announced until
that time. The battalion and divi-
sion receiving the highest figure of
merit as result of these annual
tests, each are awarded a trophy.
These trophies were donated by the
United States Naval Reserve Officers
Association for this purpose.
In the meantime. the plans are
being pushed for the annual cruises,
and all the drills and class room
and armory instruction from now on
will be with the idea of preparing for
this duty, which, this year, will be
aboard the batttleship Wyoming of
the Atlantic Training Squadron. All
three divisions composing the local
battalion will be taken along at once
this year.
One of the biggest tasks facing the
local citizen sailors. in preparation
for this annual cruise, is the train
ing of gun crews. During the cruise
each of the three divisions will be
required to fire for record. There
Is some discussion as to whether the
result system of target practice will
be followed aboard the battleship as
is followed aboard destroyers. Under
the destroyer target method for the
Reservists a small target Is set adrift,
and the Reservists get hit for any
thing within a certain range of the |
target For some time the Reserve
units have been urging that they be
allowed the same target facilities
given the Regulars in the fleets,
and that is to have large target |
towed for them, so that they must |
make a direct hit in order for it to |
count. 1t was pointed out that the |
Reservists would be better able to see
the results of their work when the
target is brought aboard. 1t also
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