Evening Star Newspaper, June 2, 1940, Page 37

At top: vers held off the California coast. Above: vers. ¢ Academy Courses Made Stronger and Broader Sea Power Recognized as Goal Toward Which Youth Must Direct Its Efforts By Robert Bruskin. Thirty miles from the Capital of the Nation which they have sworn to defend with their lives, 456 of the toughest midshipmen in the history of the United States Naval Academy will be parading this week out of an almost monastic seclusion into a world where brainy fighting men are &t premium. Probably never before in United States history have careers held | more promise. Naval power has taken a new significance for this | country. An 11 per cent increase in | ships has been ordered; naval war- planes are to be doubled to 6,000; enlisted personnel is to be increased 20.000; 62 ships are being built or waiting for space; 15500 naval aviators are to be trained in four years. The program may be expanded | ever further, depending upon the | outcome of the test now being ar-} ranged in the English Channel of warships versus bombers and tor- pedo-carrying speedboats. Physically and mentally, the mid- | shipmen who take their last bow during June week have no peers in | the 95 previous annual classes as far | as training and selection are con- cerned. One-third of the entering class of four years ago failed to reach graduation because of the new and stiffer academic routine and‘ physical requirements. Candidates | entering this summer will find it even harder to become midshipmen and easier to return to civilian life | before graduation. | Attrition in the graduating class | §s not yet ended. For when the midshipmen parade for the last time on the greensward of Worden | Field, Wednesday at 5 p.m, there | will be 29 among them who will not be commissioned as ensigns. They were found, after four years of | strenuous study and athletics, to| have physical imperfections, chiefly imperfect eyesight. Larger Marine Corps. However, many will return to ac- tive duty at Annapolis as Reserve | officers to replace instructors ealled | to sea duty for neutrality patrol. | Even the 25 midshipmen who will be commissioned as second lieuten- ants in the United States Marine Corps will have a more active future. At least 9,000 more Marines are to be enlisted to bring that traditionally “hard guy” corps to a strength of 34,000. As graduating classes go, this one is not large. Last June there were 579, greatest in the Academy’'s his- tory. Of the 456 graduates this year, 402 will be commissioned as ensigns | with the fighting fleet and for the next two years they will almost literally be crawling on hands and knees through every section of every type of ship learning the technical niceties of warships. Many, at the end of two years, will be trained in the air branch of the Navy. To the hundreds of civilian spec- | tators when diplomas. and degrees are presented Thursday at 11 am. in Thompson Stadium the midship- men will not appear different from any other engineering school grad- uating class, except for the lack of eyeglasses and corpulent students. ‘To naval officers who graduated 20 Yyears ago, however, they represent the product of a minor revolution in training and selection. Entrance requirements were al- ready stiffer four years ago than at any time in the 95 years since the academy was established on the site | of Fort Severn. | Since 1937 the physical and mental | requirements have become even more difficult. For one thing, in that year the Navy ordered that all students be tested for myopia | (near sightedness). Physicians sayf that about 20 per cent of all youths | between 16 and 20 years in this| country suffer from that eye defect. | No matter how excellent their | other qualifications, candidates and students were turned away unless eyesight was perfect. Casualties in | the class graduating this week were | heavy. Rear Admiral Chester W. Nimitg, THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, The New Mexico, a battleship of the United States Navy, pictured during maneu- —A. P. Photo. Guns of forward turrets on the U. S. S. Pennsylvania elevated during fleet maneu- —Wide World Photo. < | chief of the Bureau of Navigation, | reported recently that although only ‘ 15 per cent of the candidates were rejected in 1937, the 1940 class, which had entered a year earlier, had a loss of 129 per cent. | Culling of those with imperfect eyesight is expected to increase the efficiency of officers who must stand watch on ship bridges in storms dur- ing which spray might blind those wearing glasses. It will also permit | a higher percentage of graduates to qualify for aviation training after their two years of duty with the fleet. Technical advances in naval sci- ence since the World War, and par- ticularly recently with increasing use of warplanes, have caused the increase in the past few years of already long hours spent in the study of sciences. Cultural subjects have been re- duced, leisure hours have been cut, the curriculum has been expanded to include new knowledge in avi- ation, ordnance, engineering and| radio. Entrance examinations this year include more geometry and no ancient history, but midshipmen | still are taught more cultural sub- jects than are offered in the best engineering schools. Students are now marked for naval aptitude, lack of which may bring dismissal | even to good students, but seldom does. Twenty years ago the instructors acted as “referee between the text| book and the midshipman,” an| officer explained. Today the science | At top: “present arms” at the present week ceremonies. Above: The middies of the United States Naval Academy ation of the colors dwring June —A. P. Photo. The officer receives the colors at dress parade. —Wide World Photo. of pedagogy has kept pace with the advance in naval science. Famous educators act as advisers and are | made members of the Board of Visitors which examines activities at the academy annually. All-Around Qualities. Unlike training In the British Navy, American midshipmen are being prepared for all duties with the fleet, except supply, medical and dental. Graduates from civilian col- leges fill those offices. British offi- cers may specialize, but here officers must be proficient in engineering, gunnery, communications, naviga- tion and administration. Some criticism has been made that this tends toward jacks-of-all-trades and masters of none, but high offi- cers believe it makes for more effi- ciency in an emergency and all- around fighting ability. Federal Departments Organized on Big By Basil Gordon. June, here at last after an almost incredible delay, automatically brings with it thoughts of recrea- tion. There are as many definitions of the word as there are individual tastes. At one time it was spelled with a hyphen—re-creation—and in that form gives a better picture of its real basic meaning, a making anew, in the vegetable world, of tissues destroyed or frozen into in- activity by winter, and hence by analogy, a similar re-creation of the minds of mankind. There may or may not be a scien- tific name for the vernal urge; if not, the term “spring fever” will do. It hits both individually and collective- ly, in s one case causing the victim to go fishing or plant vegetables, and in the other to participate in picnics and ball games. It has hit, collectively some of the larger branches of our Government —the Departments of the Interior, Commerce, Justice and Agriculture, together with the Post Office and the Treasury. By an informal pro- cess of natural selection, leaders have come to the fore, and organ=- ized clubs and societies for recrea- tional purposes. The process has proceeded simultaneously but inde- pendently at the bureaus and the results attained are a tribute to the skill of the organizers, who have succeeded in promoting an extraor- dinary variety of activities at small cost to the members, and none at all to Uncle Sam.. Large Enrollment. As far as can be determined the Department of Justice was among the first to get organized recre: tional activities under way on a large scale, their efforts being con- centrated on the F. B. I. They be- gan in 1932. Today, out of a total of 2,500 employes eligible to join, 2,400 are in, and pay a purely nom- inal fee. And lest there be any doubt about that, the amount is [ just $1, and it travels farther than the traditional one thrown by George Washington across the Rappahannock River. In the first place, before it is ever spent, it gives the contributor the right to vote for or against the establish- ment of any new form of recreation, the majority deciding. Lost Only One Game. ‘This magic dollar has provided F. B. 1. with men’s and women’s basket ball teams, bowling teams, pistol clubs, horseback clubs, camera associations, a theater group, nu- merous dances, and even a bi- monthly magazine, The Investiga- tor Last year the women's basket ball team lost only one game—to the Department of Agriculture. But perhaps the outstanding achieve- ment is the Department of Justice baseball team, which plays in the six-team United States Government League. In order to make sure that Jus- tice triumphs, Quinn Tamm, in charge of the Technical Division of Identification, and president of the Athletic League, has secured the coaching services of two former pro- fessionals—Clayton Sheedy, first baseman for many years with the Baltimore Orioles, and Howard A. Myers, who used to hold down the hot corner at Buffalo and Syracuse, in the same International League. In consequence, the team has been a constant menace to the peace and security of the five others, and usual- ly wins. Last year, though there was an upset; it was third to Pepco and Naval Air Station. “It was just a temporary resur- gence of the forces of crime,” said Stanley J. (Dick) Tracy. “These things happen every now and then. We will have the situation in hand this year, and will not let them steal any more bases or any more games from us. In the end, crime never pays.” The activities of the Treasury 4 practically parallel those of the F. B. I. There are 2,900 members of the Treasury Recreational Associ- ation, paying small dues, for which they get bowling, swimming, tennis, horseback riding, hiking, basket ball, softball and golf. They also pub- lish a magazine, the Key. Among their outstanding achievements has been the winning of the District of Columbia Amateur Athletic Union trophy by the women's basket ball | Whether it does or not is yet to be tested against a first-class ad- versary. The fleets of the Spanish- | American War era, when the United | States had little trouble destroying Spanish sea power, were compara- tively crude and at that time engi- | neering officers were trained for | their jobs in a separate course at | Annapolis. Although lack of spe- | cialization is true of the great mass | of 7,000 line officers, the Navy has | & small group of men who will be engineer officers for the remainder | of their careers. Five were sent last year to the Massachusetts Institute |of Technology for post-graduate study. However, they may be called back to sea duty, for any type of job, at any time. An officer assigned to a new duty usually has sufficient time to “bone up.” At any rate, the Naval Acad- team and The Evening Star golf tournament. They have also stolen a march on the other Government branches by sponsoring a beauty contest, to be held next month. Again baseball predominates, as the Treasury has one of the six teams in the U. S. Government League. “We got off to a bad start in other years,” said F. A. Birgfeld, chiec clerk of the Treasury. ““It will be a JUNE 2, 1940—PART TWO. o5 EurOpeanfl Naval Battles Add Valg__able Lessons to Training at Annapolis At top: There’s a note of prophecy in this middie’s bathrobe, which he has tricked up admiral fashion as he studies for his finals. Above: <@ Boarding ship for the trip, a feature of the course the midshipmen take in order to prepare themselves for their future roles as officers in Uncle Sam’s Navy. —A. P. Photos. emy trains midshipmen for leader- ship above all else, and if a newly- | assigned officer is somewhat slow at the start of his new duties, he | has trained specialists at his call| among the non-commissioned per- sonnel. The officers who will be command- | jyte, Intrepid and Alert (irrever-: ing the two 45000-ton battleships and six others of 35,000-ton burden now building, have been taught | the A, B, Seas of seamanship in 14-foot sailboats. Never in the history of the academy since the advent of steam has more emphasis | been placed on free sailing. Big Return to Sail. The United States Navy had fre- ‘quently been criticized for failing to | maintain a large ship of sail for | training midshipmen in the rudi- ments of seamanship. The large- scale return to sail-was begun less than five years ago, and under Rear | Admiral Wilson Brown, academy su- | creased tremendously. accompanied midshipmen on a training cruise to Kiel and was im- pressed with the amount of training |given German midshipmen in free | sailing. | enlargement of the small-boat fleet was begun, and now there are more than 80 availatfle. Within three months the academy Morton and the 60-foot cutter High- different story now. * * * No, I don't claim that we will beat the Department of Justice, but one thing is sure—the Treasury will be in the money.” Recreational membership in the Department of the Interior amounts to 1,400 and began about four years ago. In addition to the usual ac- tivities a subgroup of the associ- ation has formed a flying club and maintains a light plane and in- THE F. B. I. GIRLS’ SOFTBALL TEAM OF 1939. First row, left to right: Ora Ward, Sue M. Delzell, Eleanor Voith and Garland McPhail. Sec- ond row: Genevieve Lurz, Gladys Alford, Marjorie Denning, Frances Lurz and Dora Rountree. 4 | will accept as a gift the 79-1005[ schooner Freedom from Sterling |seaplanes have been added to the| "Dudley R. Wolfe. Several summers | | ago it was presented with the huge wishbone-ketch Vamarie by Vadim | Makaroff, who won several famous ocean races in her. Last summer the academy pur- | chased three new yawls, the Reso- | ently named the Dissolute, Insipid (and Allergic). Midshipmen once again became sailors in the old sense of the word by navigating | the Vamarie in the race to Bermuda |and participating in many Chesa- | peake Bay races. Sailing dinghies were added to the long list of in- | tercollegiate sports. On Sundays the bay and river are dotted with | academy star boats, sailing whale- | boats, knockabouts and half-rater: For tactical maneuvers midshij | men have a large number of “splin- ter boats,” wooden subchasers, of | which more than 500 were built during the World War. Admiral | perintendent, the sail fleet has in- | Brown commanded a fleet of these | | small boats in the Mediterranean, German | charges. | power | rooms, submarines with depth There are also 10 “YP” voats serving as floating class- fitted with control equipment Shortly after his return,|Similar to that used by large ships. | | Develop Air Training. ‘The increased importance of avia- tion recently brought the addition of rudimentary air training to the curriculum. Several oObservation |academy’s equipment, and during land Light, which was owned by !this summer a fleet of patrol bomb- | Scale for Activities to Benefit Employes structor in its use. They also shine in baseball, having won the pen- | nant last year in the B. B. Depart- mental League. At one time they maintained a team in the U. S. Government League, according to now here. Special Interests. Agriculture is another branch of the Government which has highly organized recreational programs. In addition to bowling, swimming, horseback riding, tennis, softball, golf and basket ball, some of the 2,000 members go in for archery. There is also a dramatic club and a philatelic club, and for a change they hold good old-fashioned spell- ing bees. Lovers of music in the department have gone to much trouble to produce a symphonic choir, whose standard of excellence has been so high that recently one of their concerts went on the air and was broadcast from coast to coast. There is no hardball team. Commerce has been slow to get in, starting only last year. In spite of this, the department has about as many varied sports as the others, although not so formally organized. They depend on the Advisory Rec- reational Council, and by their own admission are just beginning to co- ordinate. Much the same situation exists in the Post Office, So far, the group competitive activities are intra- mural, between different depart- ments of the Post Office. . A com- mittee is no% on the lookout for a central location in which to crys- tallize their efforts—a sort of a new stamping ground, as it were. And s0 it goes. Smaller branches of the Government manage to get their fun, too, with or without the aid of employe associations, and when it is all summed up, it is seen that Washington, the site of gov- ernment, is also a site of recreation. Paul J. Bergh, and used to play | the F. B. I, but happier days are ers will be used for additional fliglt training. The strenuous life of sea-going requires a tough body as well as a trained mind. Athletics, therefore, is more than mere recreation to 1midshipmen. More than one-third of the 2200 students participated in the 19 intercollegiate sports and the remainder competed in intra- mural sports. | Naval officers returning to the |academy for the first time in five years will find the buildings en- larged, training facilities more com- lpletg than ever before, better hous~ |ing provided for officers and their | families and for midshipmen. More than $5,000,000 was quietly spent | there during those years, most of it provided by the W. P. A. and P. W. A, and therefore not shown in naval appropriations. ‘When they attend the sermon to graduates in the chapel this morn- Three years ago Admiral Brown | Where they made life miserable for ing at 10:45, they will find it has | been enlarged at a cost of $510,000. | The bones of John Paul Jones rest in more regal splendor. The noisy and noisome mess hall has been rearranged at a cost of $260,000. The golf course has been reduced |in size to make way for most of the $1,476,000 in officers’ apart- ments. These are but a few of the | improvements which will permit ex- pansion of the number of midship- men should the need arise. That need may come soon. Sev- eral hundred Reserve officers have already been called to active duty, replacing those on neutrality patrol. There still are 12,000 Reserve officers | who could be used temporarily and thus avoid a “hump” in promotion among Regular officers if many were | added now. ‘The authorized officer strength is 1562, but appropriations have pro- vided for about 7,000 and a large proportion of fighting ships are un- der-officered. Curb Selection Boards. Part of the officer shortage will probably be overcome by less drastic operation of selection boards which annually retired officers of higher rank—at a minuscule pension—be- cause there was insufficient on top for all. Many who were not se- lected for higher ranks and retired have been recalled to replace active officers training the naval militias and R. O. T. C. units. Admiral Nimitz recommended last November that officers be increased to 8,671 to man the ships then under construction. That was even before new appropriations were voted for more ships and planes. In 1935 Congress increased the quota of appointees to the Naval Academy from three to four per- mitted for each Senator and Repre- sentative. Quotas were increased proportionately for the President, Vice President, Naval Reserves, en- listed personnel and from honor military schools. The basic law pro- vides for five appointees and would theoretically give the academy 3,- 462 midshipmen. With a quota of four, the student -body should be theoretically 2,927. However, there are only about 2,200 at present. The remainder failed “to make the grade” and returned to civilian life. Thus, when the white uniformed new ensigns walk away from the graduation exercises, they will be assured of more security and fairly rapid promotion in the expanding fleet. That is, unless the Germans are defeated and the British Navy once again protects the Atlantic shore of the United States; unless & new disarmament pact causes the scrapping of warships, unless * ¢ *