World War II has been in progress a sufficient length of time that an adequate evaluation and appraisal of the officers now on active duty in the United States Naval Reserve may be perhaps fairly made.
The type of war into which this has developed has thrown an unprecedented strain and burden upon the Navy, due to its very nature; the combat areas are so far-flung that the availability of our fighting forces, with all of its ramifications, has necessitated the most rapid, and the greatest, expansion in the history of the Navy.
This expansion program has made necessary the induction of thousands of civilians as officers who have had little or no previous Navy experience or indoctrination, because Naval Academy graduates —regular line officers who have made a career of the Navy—are so relatively few in number that they cannot possibly even begin to cover the billets imposed.
Reserve officers now outnumber Naval Academy graduates many times over. There are Navy units now in operation where reserve officers outnumber Naval Academy graduates as much as 100 to 1.
Each of these reserve officers has, however, an academic and experience background which makes him valuable to the Navy. Reserve officers constitute a highly intelligent and able group, keen and alert, eager and anxious to learn, and to function as the Navy wants them to. Most of the errors they commit are errors of commission rather than of omission; and practically all of them are due to the fact that the proper procedure in the matter has not been brought to their attention. They rapidly assimilate Navy customs, procedures, and traditions, and, because of their innate acumen and ability, they relatively soon become efficient cogs in a great fighting machine, with sufficient aggressiveness to become effective leaders.
All of them recognize, accept, and respect the training, ability, and knowledge that the Naval Academy graduates possess, and the reserve officers naturally look to the Academy men for guidance and leadership. As is to be expected, they are not let down in this respect. The Academy graduates realize that there is a tremendous job to be done, and that they need a lot of help to get it done. They are tolerant, considerate, patient, and instructive, and because of their examples set, and assistance, the reserve officers are made able to function effectively in the capacities where they are most needed. And they have discovered that the reserve officers are excellent shipmates—cool, courteous, courageous, and efficient, carrying their fair share of the burden. Mutual respect and friendship have been engendered.
Of course, in any organization as large as the Navy now is, there arc bound to be a few exceptions, human nature being what it is. For example, the reserve officer who, after a short course of indoctrination at the Naval Academy, refers to himself as “an Academy man”; and the Naval Academy graduate .who, upon noticing an error, asks, “Are you a Reserve?”, and upon receiving an affirmative answer says, “I thought so.” But these incidents are rare, and serve only to emphasize the magnificent job that is being done by both Academy graduates and reserve officers, working shoulder to shoulder in harmony to effect the ultimate objective of the United Nations, which is a stupendous task.
When the final chapters of this war have been written, it is reasonable to assume that history will applaud the fine work done by the United States Naval Reserve officers, and the manner in which they carried on, and contributed to, the glorious traditions of the United States Navy, emulating their Naval Academy brothers in arms.