Evening star., 1941-12-14
Naval Reserve Unit
To Keep Up Training
Program Here
War Sends Hundreds
To Recruiting Office;
Many More Needed

While war with Japan may be
expected to affect, to some extent,
the training schedule of Naval Re-
servists here. it is expected the
work will be kept up with as many
men as can be spared from activities
in naval organizations. The reduc-
ton in the size of the training unit,
composed of the specialist petty
officers. is expected to be more af-
fected than will the members of the
Naval Academy candidate division,
which has no other duties than
that of attending school and prepar-
ing themselves for competitive ex-
aminations which will determine
whether they will be sent to the
Naval Academy next July l.
Those assigned to the specialist
training division, it was explained.
have regular duties to perform. and
their training work is to familiar
ize them with customs and proce-
dure of the Navy. This is necessary
because practically all of them came
direct from civil life and for the
liiOSO pal Ildl IlcNCl Iido dllN COIl-
tact with any military organization.
Officers in charge of the drill work
will check the duties of the men
and whether they must be excused
from drill because of their regular
naval duties.
Hundreds Seek Admittance.
The declaration of war by Japan
has served to flood the Naval Re-
serve headquarters at the Washing
ton Navy Yard here with hundreds
of young men seeking to enter the
service. Officers had become some
what discouraged because of the re-
cruiting outlook several weeks ago,
although each previous naval loss or
damage caused a wave of men to
apply at the battalion. Increases
followed both the Kearny and
Reuben James incidents.
The day following the attack on
Pearl Harbor by the Japanese, Of
ficers said they had their greatest
number of applications since the
national defense naval activities be-
gan. The greatest number of appli-
cants previously for any one day was
78. Monday 278 men sought to en-
list. There was no letup last week.
The reduction in physical re-
ouirements has served to permit the
officers to accept more applicants
than heretofore. Men with cor
rectible physical defects are now
accepted, but they are Immediately
sent to naval hospitals where they
are given medical attention to put
them in condition. This applies to
such defects as dental work where
men were told to have 1t cor
rected and return and now are en-
listed and sent to the hospitals
where the work is done. Operations
are performed to put the men in
condition. 1t was said that If man
has a physical defect requiring an
operation and it can be expected
that he can return to duty within
80 days, he is enlisted, sent to a
naval hospital and placed on active
duty as soon as dismissed.
Hundreds Still Needed.
Reserve officers said there still
are vacancies for hundreds of men
The Navy has even tapped college
students who have shown an inter-
est in obtaining commissions in the
Navy. Men in their Junior years are
being enrolled in a tentative status
and will be accepted in the Reserve
service after graduation. This pre-
vents their being taken out of school
by calls for the draft, as, being In
one branch of the fighting forces
they cannot be taken for another.
In the case of both officers and
men, those desiring to enlist will
have plenty of opportunity, and they
are urged to wait a short time before
applying to the Reserve headquar-
tiers here. The load is so heavy nov
that the men have to wait long
hours before they can be interviewed
and examined. Those who have
passed the qualification and physi-
cal tests are being enrolled and call
ed to active duty Immediately ano
sent to their stations. Most of those
taken in the yeoman or clerical
branches are being assigned tc