-
Title (Dublin Core)
-
Annapolis speeds up to train more officers for our bigger navy
-
Article Title and/or Image Caption (Dublin Core)
-
Title: Annapolis speeds up to train more officers for our bigger navy
-
extracted text (Extract Text)
-
KEEPING pace with the production of
new fighting ships in America’s naval
expansion program, Annapolis has in-
stituted a twofold speed-up in the instruc-
tion of officers. Four years’ training is be-
ing packed into three, and the Academy is
accepting a larger number of eligible men
than ever before. The 1,156 members of
the current class of plebes, or freshmen—
the largest in the 96-year history of the in-
stitution—have swelled the total number of
midshipmen to about 3,100, or 800 above the
2,300 average of recent years. By 1944, of-
ficials expect Annapolis will be turning out
between 650 and 700 trained ensigns an-
nually.
In achieving this speed-up, the Academy
has neither lowered the physical and mental
requirements for entrance nor has it in-
creased the length of the daily schedule. It
is being accomplished by curtailing vacation
time and by giving cultural subjects a minor
role. Under the present program, 51 per-
cent of a midshipman’s course is devoted to
mathematics and science, 22 percent to pro-
fessional subjects such as navigation, sea-
manship, gunnery, and ordnance, and 21 per-
cent to cultural subjects.
The first result of the speed-up was the
graduation of the Class of 1941 in December
1940 instead of June 1941. The Class of
19042 will be graduated in December 1941
and the Class of 1943 in June 1942. There-
after, classes which have completed the four-
year course in three years will be graduated
each June.
To accommodate the greatly increased
number of midshipmen, additional facilities,
costing more than $5,000,000, are being pro-
vided at the Academy. Bancroft Hall, where
all midshipmen live and eat, is receiving two
$1,000,000 wings which will furnish 326 ad-
ditional rooms. Other improvements in-
clude a new recitation building, additions to
the power plant, a seaplane hangar, expan-
sion of the Naval Hospital to provide 100
more beds, additional office space in the ad-
ministration building and barracks for en-
listed men on duty at the Academy.
Ordinarily, the four Naval Academy
classes are known as plebe (freshman),
youngster (sophomore), second class (jun-
ior), and first class (senior). Under the
three-year plan, the second-class designa-
tion probably will be discontinued. Plebes wear no sleeve
stripes; youngsters wear one diagonal stripe; second-class-
men two diagonal stripes; and first-classmen one narrow
stripe around the sleeves. Last year, there were three
companies in each of the four battalions of the Regiment
of Midshipmen. This year, a battalion has five companies.
As in the past, most of the midshipmen are appointed
by Congressmen, with about 25 a year receiving appoint-
ments from the President. Enlisted men in the Navy and
Marine Corps are eligible for 100 appointments, filled by
competitive examinations. Another 100 appointments a
year are open to enlisted men of the Naval Reserve. Forty
percent of all plebes entering the Academy are dropped,
or “bilged,” before graduation. Those who finish receive a
B.S. degree and, usually, a commission as ensign.
In addition to its training of regular midshipmen, the
Naval Academy this year gave a three-months’ concen-
trated course for Naval Reserve midshipmen seeking line
commissions in the V-7 class of the Reserve. Another
three-months’ course for 700 men will start in January,
1942. Candidates must have a college education and engi-
neering graduates are especially desired. Similar concen-
trated courses at other institutions throughout the coun-
try are expected to raise the number of Reserve ensigns
produced in this way to 5,000 a year. Another source of
officer material is the Navy R. O. T. C. in 27 American
universities. It is counted on to turn out an additional 1,350
Reserve ensigns a year when the program hits its stride.
-
Language (Dublin Core)
-
Eng
-
Date Issued (Dublin Core)
-
1941-12
-
pages (Bibliographic Ontology)
-
92-95
-
Rights (Dublin Core)
-
Public domain
-
Archived by (Dublin Core)
-
Sami Akbiyik
Popular Science Monthly, v. 139, n. 6, 1941
