“The Merchant Marine Naval Reserve, Real Stimulus is Imperative,” by Captain W. O. Spears, U. S. Navy. (The Nautical Gazette for October 26, 1935.)
“ .. . But the Enlisted Reserve (U. S. Army) has lapsed of recent years, there being no incentive for men to join it.” (Fortune for September, 1935.)
Those two comments embody the present situation faced by the Merchant Marine Naval Reserve and forecast its ultimate fate unless some action is taken to provide the necessary stimulus.
Many articles have been written regarding this Reserve but few have been from the viewpoint of a member. As a whole, merchant marine officers are not interested in the Reserve. Of those enrolled, the large number who annually fail to make their report or neglect to report for the required physical examination attest this beyond question. The basic reason for this lack of interest is easily determined. It lies in the almost complete lack of benefit to be derived by the enrollee.
The average merchant marine officer is a very human sort, primarily interested in his earnings, and the better type is ever willing to improve his position and income. Over ten years ago Congress created the Merchant Marine Naval Reserve but has never appropriated funds to pay the authorized annual one month’s base pay to the enrolled reservist. Therefore a commission in the Merchant Marine Naval Reserve is literally only an honorary one, creating a minimum of interest in the Merchant Marine at large.
The problem of interesting men in a non-profit proposition is indeed a difficult one. It is apparent, however, that men must be attracted and interested if the Merchant Marine Reserve is to survive. The purpose of this article is to present briefly one method whereby this may be accomplished.
We have a large surplus of licensed merchant marine officers. It is a regrettable fact that entirely too large a number should never have had licenses issued to them in the first place and that still more have been licensed beyond their true ability to serve. This condition was created before the present standard of examinations went into effect. On the other hand, we have the type of officer fully qualified to hold and serve on his license. A serious problem in our marine affairs is that these two types of license holders stand on equal footing when making competitive application for employment. The Navy Department can be of material aid to the latter type and, at the same time, create an interest in the Reserve that has heretofore been lacking.
The first step in this solution is one for the Department. At present the only requirement for a commission in the Reserve is a physical one plus a given amount of service of a certain grade in approved ships of the Merchant Marine. To retain that commission one has only to make a yearly report to his district office and undergo a physical examination each four years. It is only human that that which comes to us so easily is little appreciated. A reserve commission must be increased in value, even though that value be only an honorary one.
What is the present value of the Merchant Marine Reservist to the Navy? Unless he has enrolled in the correspondence courses for that minimum amount of naval training, it is practically nil. The only apparent benefit the Navy derives from enrolling merchant marine officers in time of peace is that the physical examination is completed and certain data relative to the applicant’s history are recorded. Surely, these completed activities are of no great material benefit to the Navy as, in an emergency, both could be executed in a few hours. It has already been shown what meager benefit is derived by the Reservist.
It is suggested that the Navy Department take steps to make this reserve body one of quality instead of the present quantity. This can be accomplished by instituting a requirement for one to retain his commission. The requirement would be based on compulsory enrollment in a given series of correspondence courses for the deck and engine-officer reservists. The present system of enrolling merchant marine officers in the Reserve should be continued but their efforts to improve their value to the Navy and themselves after enrollment should determine the retention of their commissions. A time schedule should be developed for the completion of each subject and the reservist would remain in good standing as long as the schedule was maintained, making due allowance for unusual circumstances to the contrary. Upon completion of the required courses, the reservist would be placed on a permanent basis. In this manner the Navy would build a body of men trained to the maximum by the method now available, give added prestige to those who successfully complete the courses, and eliminate from the rolls the present large number of non-producers.
At the same time, it is necessary that the Navy Department do something to make this extra work of benefit to the reservist. Until such time as the authorized base pay is appropriated the only way a reservist can be aided in a material way is in the nature of preferential employment in the better class of shipping companies. Heretofore, efforts have been directed toward thousands of men in interesting them in reserve enrollment. An educational drive directed toward approximately fifty of our leading shipping operators, impressing upon them the advisability and practicability of giving preference to reservists, will be an effort in a beneficial direction for building the reserve body. We do have some operators who already require that a man be a reservist before considering him for employment but they are practically all operating mail subsidy ships. The major portion of our operators are not interested in whether or not a man is a reservist. They undoubtedly know how little a reserve commission means in its present state.
In considering this proposal the argument will be advanced that reserve training could be of no particular advantage in a commerical way to a man who has successfully served as a merchant marine officer for a number of years. It is granted that apparently such is the case, but we must realize that a steamship officer may serve successfully for many years suddenly to be faced with a situation that results in disaster. Reserve training alone will not fit a man to meet every emergency in a completely efficient manner but the training does require a man of a certain mental capacity, along with a basis of character successfully to conclude the course, and will aid materially in eliminating from offices of grave responsibility those who are clearly unfitted.
It is not the purpose of this writer to advocate a total elimination of non- reservists from our Merchant Marine. To do so would impose an unjust hardship on very capable men who for reasons of age or physical disability are unable to enroll. The object is to start the formation of a group of men, who, through training of their own initiative, would be far better than average material for the Navy and the private steamship operator. The opportunity is open for the Navy Department to create a real interest in the Reserve by making a reserve commission mean more than it does today. Ambitious members of the Merchant Marine will grasp at an opportunity to increase their knowledge, knowing that at the same time they are making themselves more secure in their employment. The conversant reader has undoubtedly recognized the many problems facing the execution and effectiveness of this plan but their solution is of relative ease and for that reason they are omitted here.
In the immediate past our Merchant Marine has had its full share of censure and it is the duty of everyone interested in maritime matters to aid in every way possible in correcting this condition and to help regain and maintain public confidence in our shipping. Ships continue man-directed and the men brought through the ranks to that of command are key men to the future success of our Merchant Marine.
I have never read of a man who has distinguished himself in supreme command against an active and enterprising enemy who has not fitted himself for the test to which he was put both by long study and varied experience.—Sir Frederick Maurice, Robert E. Lee, the Soldier.
Though Lord St. Vincent’s education had been nearly all self-acquired, he nevertheless had stored his mind with knowledge uniform in all the more important branches of national economy, in which, to the latest years of his life, he would continue gathering all the information within his reach.—Tucker, Life of St. Vincent.