Captain W. T. Cluverius, U. S. Navy.—1. The anomalous condition of a shortage of more than 50 per cent in total authorized commissioned strength combined with an actual excess in the complements of the three lower grades of the line is enough to try the “Soul of the Service.”
2. Captain Jessop’s article is timely for it is necessary indeed, in this serious post-war period, to determine first, what professional attributes are missing in the quickly-promoted junior officer and then, what modifications in training must be made in order to re-equip him as nearly as may be for his life’s work. The writer inquires into these points well and finds that all the losses are based in that inclusive one of experience. With it was lost training in that subordination which comes with training at sea, close supervision by older officers and the benefits of that association, and the crystallizing of ideals of duty which, because they must be deep rooted, are of slow growth.
3. Much in these elements was lost to the junior officer of the line long before the World War—lost with the passed midshipman and the two years probationary period at sea where, under continuous control, the aspirant for a commission was trained in the duties of a subordinate and drilled in the acceptance of responsibility. He learned the details of his profession from his division officer, and, day by day, military character was formed.
4. Annapolis has realized and shouldered these losses, especially those entailed by the rapid promotion in war, and is trying to bridge the arc as best it may in a systematic manner.
5. The Naval Academy is often criticized for this or that lack in professional equipment discovered when the graduate joins a ship. Professional demands, both practical and theoretical, are greater than ever before and growing. It is simply impossible to cover the field in four years. Yet at all times there are attempts from without to shorten the course of instruction when the need is to lengthen it. There are those, too, who say let them get this or that aboard ship. Some of the essentials of our profession can never be absorbed after graduation. The abandonment of the two years’ cruise was a lesson in this matter: the ensign of to-day lacks much professionally that the ensign of yesterday acquired as a passed midshipman.
6. I agree with Captain Jessop that academic methods suffer restriction and must of necessity at certain points be artificial. Nothing can make up for experience. A midshipman must stand on his own foundation and a gradation by marks is imposed. This is the only criterion of academic achievement, but I cannot agree that it is “ as true of discipline as it is of any other study.” Moreover, it is my observation that in all professional departments at Annapolis to-day the “ question of the usefulness of what he is being taught ” is so continuously brought to a midshipman’s attention that to some degree it must enter his head.” Unfortunately in many respects, the proper striving for marks is not prevalent now ‘because a “two-five” means a commission. Too often this mark can be made without sufficient effort and scholarship suffers.
7. There is no one discipline department as such. There is an Executive Department of which, in addition to his other duties, the Commandant of Midshipmen is the head. Under him is a commissioned officer attached to each company of the Regiment of Midshipmen whose duty it is to teach his men the executive requirements of their profession; to instill in them the instincts of duty; and to formulate their military character, all the while maintaining discipline and causing them to maintain it.
8. Annapolis is the school of the line of the navy. Midshipmen officers and petty officers are given standardized duties and comprehensive authority in the exercise of command which is the function of the line. They are guided, advised, and backed, by the commissioned company officer. With the midshipmen’s responsibility based on regimental ranking and rating come their privileges: not with longevity, that is, not with class.
9. Similarly in the professional departments, the commissioned personnel are held accountable for the maintenance of discipline and the determination of military character displayed by the midshipmen when engaged in those departments. Just as the gunnery officer, the engineer officer, and the navigating officer are responsible in our ships, so are all officers attached to the Naval Academy. The Commandant of Midshipmen corresponds with the Executive Officer in coordinating the whole.
10. The matters of leadership and command are constantly dwelt on by the Executive Department and service interest is enhanced by a succession of addresses made not only by the most distinguished officers of our fleet and service, but also by foreign flag officers and general officers whose names are world wide and who are frequent visitors to Annapolis. Without exception they remark on the spirit they find and in their contacts with midshipmen, dwell on our glorious traditions which are an inspiration to further effort.
11. Yes, Annapolis is striving to the utmost to fill the gaps. But training in the full sense of duty when it comes and the assimilation of the spirit which Annapolis enjoins is a post-graduate course for the fleet, and the fleet must see to it that no “ naval holiday ” in these essentials is permitted. On the contrary it is the bounden duty of every officer in the fleet to show in himself that the newcomer’s vision of service is unimpaired.