Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1939-11-12
Few Naval Reserve
Officers Volunteer
For Active Duty
Only Junior Officers
Have Been Asked
To Offer Services


Have Been Asked
To Offer Services
While the response Of Naval Re.
serve officers to the invitation Of
the Navy Department to apply for
active service with the fleet has not
met in any general way from the
junior officers, it Is believed this
condition will prevail until q ma
tional emergency Is declared, when
the officers could be called to duty
without their consent.
With demands being made on the
naval service to man ships and sta
tons with commissioned personnel,
which was not existent In the reg
ular service, the Navy turned to
the Reserves. But under the law q
Naval Reservist cannot be called to
active duty without his consent, so
therefore the department asked for
officers Of the rank of ensign and
lieutenant, junior grade, to respond.
Only three from the local battalion
applied.
While scores have applied for and
are receiving original commissions
in the Naval Reserve, and many Of
them might be willing to answer the
volunteer call, 1t was pointed out
that for the most part these men
are unframed and have not even been
indoctrinated in the naval service.
The question has been raised as to
whether even volunteers for this
ground would serve the Nays pur-
pose at this time unless it is in the
case of certain individuals whose
civilian occupations peculiarly fit
them to give service in the Navy
in their specialist line. This might
be true in the case Of civil engineers
who could be used on the naval
public works projects or marine en-.
gineers and naval constructors
whose services could be used i'm.
mediately in the naval building pro-
gram.
The local Reserve headquarters at
the Washington Navy Yard has
been flooded with applications for
commissions which started about
the time the hostilities began in
Europe, but it was indicated that
there has been tightening up Of
the applications. Many of them are
still pending at the Navy Yard and
are being forwarded to the depart
ment with recommendation as the
necessary physical examinations and
paper work are completed. Most
of the applications here are for
places in the Naval Intelligence
Corps, but as this is the branch
that is little discussed in public no
figures are available as to the num-
Der Of applications or those finally
selected.
The flood of applications has put
a heavy task on the commandant
of the Washington Navy Yard. After
the preliminary details and physical
examinations are completed and .
recommendation made by the ON.
Ger in charge of Naval Reserve af.
fairs here, the whole case has to be
surveyed by the commandant, who
must also personally interview the
applicant before the case is sent to
the Navy Department for final &C
ton. There it also must run tho
gamut of several bureaus before
final action is taken. The papers
20 first to the Bureau of Medicine
and Surgery for examination Of the
physical report, thence to the bu-
reau concerned with the particular
duties of the applicant and finally
to the Bureau of Navigation, where,
if everything else is in order the
commissions are finally issued.
The following have been placed
on the honorary retired list of Naval
Reserve officers: Capts. Porter B.
Brockway and Miller Freeman,
Comdr. Aretas E. Biddinger, 1t.
Comdrs. Robert A. Bartlett. Charles
L. Chandler, Albert NJ. Cohen, Clark
D. Brooks, Walter L. Cariss, Craw-
ford H. Ellis, Walter E. Farmer,
Floid M. Muller, William E. Gard.
ner, Charles R. Flenn, Robert j.
Hunter, Wilbur Morse, Benjamin D.
Parish, Thomas w. Rudderow, Will
liza c. Ryan, Frederick T. Steven.
son, Jad D. Zulick; Its. Irwin L.
Gordon, Forest L. Gwinn, Standish
Hall, Raymond S. Lawson, Nelson
j. Macan, Charles H. Phillips.
Charles H. Tumey; Its. (Junior
Grade) Walter J. Borst, George M.
Watson; Ensign John G. Griffin.
AS another move in the provision
of commissioned personnel for the
enlargement of the Naval Reserve.
the Navy Department announced
that the Bureau of Navigation in the
near future will promulgate for the
guidance of commandments of naval
districts and bureaus and offlces con-
cerned, the procurement and mobili.
cation quotas of volunteer Reserve
officers for special service.
The Navy Department has COM
! pleted arrangements with the United
States Maritime Commission for the
appointment of cadet officers Of the
merchant marine as cadets in the
merchant marine reserve. There are
at present about 125 of these mer-
chant marine cadet officers serving
aboard ships of the Maritime Com
mission in probationary status, it
was said. Their appointments as
merchant marine reserve cadets, 1t
was added, will enable the cadet
officers to enroll in the reserve cor
respondence courses in Navy regu-
lations and customs, navigation and
engineering. thus better preparing
them for appointment as officers in
the merchant marine reserve when
they become eligible.
In an effort to keep men Of the
regular establishment, who are dis
charged by reason Of the expiration
Of their enlistments, available for
service, the Navy has provided for