In considering the training of the Merchant Marine Naval Reserve officer for possible service afloat in time of emergency, several important factors must be considered, in order to obtain a clear and fair picture of the work ahead and of the best methods to be employed to attain the desired results.
As I have pointed out in a previous article, the Merchant Marine officer is primarily interested in the financial wellbeing of himself and his family. That is the main reason he goes to sea. He may have had the “go to sea and see the world” idea in his younger days, but this is worn out by the time he has reached middle age and assumed family responsibilities.
In my estimation, there are two very valuable ways in which a Merchant Marine Reserve officer can be trained, without financial loss to him, and with little expense to the Navy or the shipowners, in relation to the gains to be made.
Someone suggested, in the Naval Institute Proceedings, I believe, that the officer take advantage of the annual vacation granted him by his owners, to present himself to his Naval District and there avail himself of whatever facilities were placed at his disposal by the district commander.
Anyone who knows the make-up of the Merchant Marine man, who realizes the extent of planning for those few days during the long year of waiting, will know that to ask him to give up those few precious days to naval training is just a waste of breath. He will understand that officer’s point of view, without thinking the less of him or of his patriotism.
Another stumbling block in the way this idea is the fact that not all the steam-ship companies give their officers vacations, no matter how long they may have been in their employ, and that of the companies which do, many limit them to their Masters and Chief Engineers. Others give vacations to all officers, but the length is too short for any serious naval training.
Therefore, if the reserve officer is to receive any training at all, it is clearly up to the Navy and the shipowners to make it possible for that officer to receive that training. The Navy, representing the country at large, should naturally shoulder the larger share of the burden, and the shipowners, having their large investments at stake, and benefiting from that officer s better training, should shoulder the balance. The ratio may well be placed at 2 for the Navy and 1 for the shipowner.
An arrangement might well be entered into between the Navy and the shipowner by virtue of which the shipowner would allow his officers a length of time to be agreed upon, during which the officer would report for duty to his Naval District; the Navy and the shipowner to divide between themselves the necessary salary allowances to the officer in question.
This salary allowance need not be the pay of the officer’s rank in the Naval Reserve, but the pay of the actual position held at the time of reporting for duty by the officer. This, in most cases, will be considerably less than the pay of the officer s rank in the Naval Reserve, and it is my belief that most officers would be satisfied with it as few of them desire to make a profit out of their training periods.
Further, this furlough should be in addition to the regular vacation period, if any, allowed by the owners, and it should Dot prejudice the right of the officer to return to his job at the expiration of the training period, nor interfere in any way with his seniority.
The officer should be allowed to take his training in the district from which his vessel operates, thus doing away with traveling expenses, and should be allowed to wear the uniform of his company, but in case his company does not have a distinctive uniform of its own, he should be allowed to wear civilian clothes while on duty. If this were found impracticable, a uniform allowance should be granted.
As for the training of reserve officers while afloat and on the job, a step in the right direction has been taken with the provision for correspondence courses, but it is my belief that it would benefit the officer, the owners, and the naval service, if the Navy would place on board every vessel having reserve officers in her complement, whether she is flying the reserve flag or not, books and pamphlets containing matter of general information and interest to the reserve officer.
It is my opinion, shared by many reserve officers, that the training of the Merchant Marine Naval Reserve officer should be confined to indoctrination along the lines of possible active service, not on fighting units (for that would be outside his probable usefulness for active service), but along the lines of service on naval auxiliaries. He should be taught naval regulations, naval routine, and paper work, with such other general subjects found necessary to give him a fair understanding of naval requirements aboard a naval auxiliary vessel. Any attempt to indoctrinate him for service in a fighting unit would be a waste of time.
Another and much less expensive, though longer, method would be to assign to the various vessels having Naval Reserve officers on board a regular Navy or other competent officer, possibly an officer on the retired list of the Navy, who would go to sea with the ship, say for one month each year, or for such period of time as found advisable by the Navy Department, and consistent with each vessel’s type of employment.
This officer could observe, at close quarters, the routine and problems confronting the merchantman. He could observe and report to the Navy Department as to the fitness of each officer in relation with possible service afloat on naval auxiliaries, and instruct the officers on such matters as the Navy Department may deem advisable. His duties should not include interference in any way with the regular duties of the officers.
The reports of these officers would take the place of the fitness reports required to be filed at present by the Naval Reserve officer and would more clearly describe each officer’s capabilities and efficiency. The present fitness reports, in so far as they apply to the Merchant Marine Naval Reserve officer, are not much more than a check on that officer’s whereabouts, his present position, and other minor information regarding his everyday work.
The pay and expenses of such naval officers assigned to merchant vessels should be borne by the Navy Department, and the shipowners should supply quarters and victualing as supplied to the vessel’s regular officers.
The above suggestions are along general lines only, and are liable to changes as found necessary by experience, the necessities of each trade engaged in by the various vessels, and the co-operation of the various steamship companies, but it is my belief that the general idea could be carried out, with a minimum of expense to all concerned and a very definite benefit to the naval service, the shipowners, and the Naval Reserve officer.