Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1940-10-06
Naval Reservists
May Be Selected
For Permanent Duty
Officers Particularly
May Be Sought
For Regular Service

For Regular Service
While there is no announced plan
for calling the Naval Reserve into
active service for a training period,
as is being done with the National
Guard and Reserve of the land
forces, there is the probability that
If the Navy is unable to man its
ships with the personnel available
that 1t might find 1t necessary to
call out the Reserves, and, once
called out, not few of them, par
ticularly the officers, may be given
permanent status.
For some time the Navy has been
calling for Reserve officers to volun-
teer their services because Of the
fact that until the President de-
clares full emergency Naval Re-
servists cannot be called to duty
without their consent. But 1t has
not received the response which 1t
desires. Ships are coming of the
ways at fairly rapid rate, and there
must be officers as well as enlisted
personnel to man them. Although
the Naval Academy class Of l94l is
to be graduated early, as means
of filling the need for officers. 1t was
indicated that these will by no
means fill all of the gaps.
The selective service law is not
believed likely to fill the need for
enlisted men to properly man the
fleet. 1t takes several years to make
a good man o. warsman, so that a
year of service would not do the
same job that the Army expects to
do in a year of field training. 1t
takes much longer to form a Reserve
reservoir of men for the ships, 1t
was asserted.
Therefore. the only reservoir now
is the Reserve. which is even pre-
vented from training as large force
as will be needed to man the en-
larged feet because of the linlita-
tons which have been placed on
training funds. The size of the
organized divisions of the Naval Re-
serve have been kept well below 100
men each, because each man re-
ceives a days pay of his grade for
each drill attended. If there are no
funds to pay them, then the force
must be kept down.
The best opportunities for perma-
, nent service is expected to be found
in that part of the Naval Reserve
which is composed of young men
from the naval r. O. T. c. colleges
There during the regular college
training these men have taken an
additional course in naval subjects
including tactics, under line officer
of the Navy assigned to the college
Upon graduation they are commits
stoned as ensigns in the Naval Re
serve 1t is from this group. per-
haps, that the Navy will select il
officers for permanent duty, to aug =
ment those who come from tn
Naval Academy at Annapolis.
The Navy also is developing nc
another field of supply for Office
for the fleet. Young men. with {
least two years of college traininc
are being selected for possible COM
missioning as ensigns in the Nava
Reserve. Men who enlist in this ne
class of the Reserve are being sell
to sea for month at time, and i
found to have aptitude for TIL
naval service. are appointed Nav
Reserve midshipmen, after on
month of service. They are then
sent to one of the several schoo,
which have been established in COL
leges in various parts of the coun-
try for an intensive course Of in
struction, upon completion of which
they are commissioned in the Re-
serve and are offered immediate &C
tive duty with the stipulation that
it is not to be for more than year.
/ However, it was indicated that it
might be possible that all of these
| taken from the Reserve may find
that the Navy will want them for a
much longer period in order to keep
the feet fully manned. at least dur
ing the prevalence of the present
world conditions. There is said to
be little likelihood that the ships
now being rushed to completion
. to augment the feet will be placed
out of commission in year II the
present conditions continue, or even
( if they become worse.
! The local Reserve battalion off,
GERS are making plans for the ex-
pected increase in personnel.
There is not expected to be any
difficulty in getting sufficient num-
Der of men to fill the vacant places
provided for in the increase, as
/ the battalion is swarmed each drill
night by young men seeking enlist
ment. Many are turned down, after
the preliminary physical examina-
ton, so that even now the Naval
Reserve is able to make fine Sc
lection of its personnel. But a
rapid turnover in the enlisted per-
sonnet is expected to continue for
some time Many of the young
men who are enlisting now, It was
said, are seeking active duty. AL
who apply for this duty are being
taken into the service, so tkat the
ranks of the divisions are being
reduced all the time and constantly
being filled with new men.