Evening star., 1936-08-23

talon expressed themselves
As being highly pleased with
the cruise and the showing
made by the various divisions. They
were particularly enthusiastic over the
fact that each fleet division was as
signed to 4 separate destroyer.
Plans now are being formulated by
the officers Of the lst Battalion for q
dinner which will be given in honor
Of Lieut.. Comdr. Mark H. Crouter, U.
s. Navy, ofiicer in charge Of Naval
Reserve affairs in the District of CO.
lumbia. and inspector instructor of the
local battalion. which is to be held on
the evening of Thursday, August ~.
Members Of the Reserve Ofhcers As
sociation In Washington will be in
vited to join the dinner for Comdr.
Crouter. A committee consisting Of
Lieut.. John Cleland, Lieut. (junior
grade) w. 8. Brown, Ensign John
Schultz and Ensign F. w. Lemly are
in charge Of the arrangements.
Comdr. Crouter. 1t was said, has
been on duty in the Navy Yard with
the Reserve unit for a little more than
year and has been one Of the most
popular officers from the Navy ever to
be associated with the Washington
unit. Comdr. Crouter has received
orders detaching him from duty with
the local Reserves next month to take
up an assignment as chief engineer
ing officer Of the U. S. s. Enterprise. q
new Navy plane carrier now under
construction at Norfolk.
During his tour Of duty in Wash
ington. Comdr. Crouter, according to
the Reservists, has been of great as
sistance to the Reserves in helping
them to meet their problems and has
always been eager to help in the
progress Of the battalion. He has
been particularly helpful in the cam
paign instituted for the purpose Of
obtaining new armory for the citizen
sailors.
The Washington battalion last week
received the first set Of transfers
from other naval districts Of men
who are applying to take the reserve
examinations for appointment to the
United States Naval Academy. The
battalion already has more than 20
men trying for the examinations and
more transfers are expected when all
Of the Washington prep schools open.
A yrnof inritu ~ fha vHn
take the examination with the local
battalion are those reserviSts from
various parts of the country who come
here to attend preparatory schools to
prepare for the rigid tests which are
given.
AS one of the requirements is that
the men shall attend drills regularly
during the year prior to the time set
for their entrance. they are trans
ferred from their regular battalions
to the local outfit and must drill with
it during the time they are here.
Each year the number Of men ap-
plying for these tests has been in
creasing. When the IS appointments
were first allowed. the Navy Depart
ment found difficulty in getting
enough men to fill the vacancies, but
since the depression more young men
in various parts of the country have
evinced interest in getting additional
education by being assigned to the
academy, with the result position as
a commissioned officer in the Navy
upon graduation.
Under orders issued by Lieut.. James
talon, United States Naval Reserves
in the District of Columbia, the three
divisions will drill as a unit on Tues
day evening of each week Although
this will result in considerable crowd
ing in the inadequate armory here, it
was considered better to have all divi-
sions Of the organization present at
one time, rather than have a division
drill each evening. that is on Monday,
Tuesday and Wednesday as has been
the practice for some time
1t was pointed out that the drill
program Of the organization will be so
arranged that each division will have
some facility in use which will not be
required by the other divisions at the
same time. However, with the small
drill hall facilities it Is impossible to
drill the entire battalion in infantry
at one time. As matter of fact with
the increased size of the divisions and
with attendance at its peak on each
drill night, it is almost impossible for
divisions to properly drill in infantry.
All drill schedules now arranged
will be with the idea of developing
the battalion for its annual tests be-
fore the Board of Regular Navy Ofi-
GERS from the Navy Department and
the organization hopes to climb higher
toward the top the next time The
decision to have all divisions drill on
one night was also made so that the
officers and men could know before
hand how to arrange their civilian en-
gagements. Under the old system Of
each division drill on a separate night
there were frequent times during the
year when it was necessary to assem-
BILE the entire battalion for various
inspections. On such occasions it was
necessary for at least two of the divi-
SionS to change their regular plans.