Evening star., 1937-03-28
a II ORE than go enlisted men Of
nu the 1st Battalion, United
wv States Naval Reserves, in the
= District OF Columbia are

ofJC Clidu OU clllloUcu IIlCll "a
M the lst Battalion, United
States Naval Reserves, in the
4 District OF Columbia, are
preparing to take the examinations
for entrance into the United States
Naval Academy next July. They are
working hard because the competition
is very keen, for in addition to the
number Of applicants here there are
scores of others throughout the
country There are only 25 to be
awarded, and the Is men making the
highest marks will get them. These
are the final tests.
Although the Navy Department had
difficulty for several years after Con-
gress first authorized such appoint
ments from the ranks OF the Reserve
in getting all of the vacancies filled,
there has been an unusually large
number of applicants in the last few
years. Because OF this great demand
for the appointments, legislation is
pending in Congress to increase the
number of appointments from this
source to so, and the. Reservists are
hoping that the present Congress will
provide them. In the case Of the Ma
tional Guard Congress has provided
for the appointment of 100 enlisted
men from the ranks to the United
States Military Academy.
Although there are approximately
so men attached to the local battalion
who have applied to take the examina-
tions. not all of them are permanent
members Of the outfit. A large group
are enlisted men from other battalions
and divisions from various parts Of the
country who have come here to at
tend local preparatory schools to
study for the tests Because Of the
fact that the law requires men to at
tend drills regularly during the year
prior to their admission, if successful
they must participate regularly in the
weekly drills while attending the loca!
schools. For that reason their records
have been transferred here and they
will remain at least until the results
of the tests are announced.
Preparations are being made at the
Washington Navy Yard to place the
training launch of the local battalion
in the water so that the Summer
weekend training season can be
started promptly. 1t has to be started
as early in the year as practicable be-
cause so many officers and men make
application for each weekend voyage.
The vessel has been thoroughly
overhauled. However, the local Re-
servists are still hopeful before the
open water training season gets fairly
we'll under way, the Navy Depart
ment will assign larger vessel here.
1t is understood number OF Re-
serve units throughout the country
has been assigned vessels which were
turned over to the Navy by the Coast
Guard. They are OF the type which
were used by the Coast Guard in
its rum-running operations prior to
the repeal of prohibition. Ondcers
here have learned these vessels are
much more satisfactory than the type
of vessel which has been assigned
here They are large enough so that
the men can get more training each
trip than is possible with the present
vessel here.
During the first week in April, the
local divisions will be put through
q series Of preliminary inspections to
check up on the readiness of the Or
ganization for the annual inspection
by q board Of regular officers from