The U.S. Naval School, Academy and College Preparatory, is the Navy’s third senior educational institution; senior, not in rank, because it is a school for enlisted men, but senior in age. Only the U. S. Naval Academy itself and the U. S. Naval War College antedate it. This school was established by the Bureau of Naval Personnel for enlisted men of the Navy and Marine Corps selected by the Bureau of Naval Personnel to take the competitive examinations for appointment to the Naval Academy under the Secretary of the Navy’s quota. The facilities of the school have been extended to members of the Armed Forces who have Congressional and Presidential nominations for appointment as Midshipmen, and to members of the Navy and Marine Corps who are authorized by the Commandant, U. S. Coast Guard, to compete for appointments to the Coast Guard Academy. The school has the additional mission of preparing enlisted men of the Navy and Marine Corps who have been selected by the Bureau of Naval Personnel for the Navy’s Naval Reserve Officers’ Training Corps program.
In 1914, enlisted men were first given the opportunity to compete for appointments to the Naval Academy. The Secretary of the Navy was alloted 15 appointments, subsequently increased to 25, then 100, and now 160 per year. In December 1915, a Naval Academy Class was formally established at the Naval Training Station, Newport, R. I. As an incentive to further study, this class was quartered together and studied together. For four months, eleven men studied the Naval Academy Examination subjects (at that time, Geometry, Algebra, Arithmetic, Grammar, United States History, Geography, and Spelling). As the corps of instructors of the Department of Education, Newport Naval Training Station, expressed it in The Newport Recruit for July, 1916, “The returns far exceeded our expectations and our success in being able to properly adjust the grey matter in the heads of those who aspired to be Midshipmen is a very signal one indeed.” Of the 11 members of the class, 5 were admitted to the Naval Academy, 3 of whom had won competitive examinations and 2 who had Congressional appointments. One other man from the Naval Academy Class passed the examination but was not among the 15 highest. The class was continued in 1917 and 1918, the percentage of successful candidates continuing at about 50%.
In 1919, the Secretary of the Navy, not satisfied with the failure to fill his increased quota of appointments, ordered a Naval Academy Preparatory School established at San Diego in addition to Newport. Three years later the East Coast school was moved to Norfolk, where it remained until 1943, when the school was transferred to Bainbridge, Maryland. The San Diego School was closed in 1931. Many senior officers, who remember with varying degrees of fondness the poor living conditions, make-shift instruction, and long, hard work of the earlier sessions of the school, will be interested in the changes that have taken place since the founding of the school and in the final form of the school as it exists today at Newport, R.I.
From 1943-1949 the Preparatory School was located at Bainbridge, Maryland, in the classrooms of the former Tome School. The Navy had purchased the buildings and grounds of the Tome School as the nucleus of a large Naval Training Center named after Commodore William Bainbridge. During this stage of development, the students were quartered and messed in the Naval Training Center area in temporary barracks remote from the class-room building, which required a march of about one and one-half miles to and from classes three times daily. The school building, however, was some compensation for this inconvenience and for the temporary character of living and messing facilities. This building was constructed in 1906 of Susquehanna granite in an era when buildings were well and permanently made. The general appearance of this building was similar to the academic buildings at the Naval Academy.
The faculty was expanded rapidly from the small, over-worked group at Norfolk to an adequate number, most of whom were commissioned officers of the Naval Reserve who had been educators in civilian life. To this experienced and capable group were added enlisted specialists who held college degrees. Under this faculty the quality of instruction increased rapidly. In 1945, with the war’s end, the release of these trained instructors and the rapid demobilization of the student body resulted in a marked decrease in the quality of instruction and a falling off of discipline and effectiveness. However, the completion of the Navy’s demobilization program brought an end to this decline, and in 1946 the faculty was stabilized and the school’s curriculum and organization were revised and improved.
In June, 1947, when the Bainbridge Naval Training Center was inactivated, the school remained as an independent command. A number of recent Naval Academy graduates were added as instructors. Incoming students were superior in intelligence and initiative, and possessed a sense of responsibility and direction which had been lacking in the war and immediate post-war students. All these factors combined to mature and improve the school to a position where it could point with pride to its achievements.
Bainbridge was an excellent location. Its proximity to the Bureau of Naval Personnel, which has management control of the school, facilitated administration and the short distance to the Naval Academy made possible preliminary physical examinations by the Medical board at the Academy. Students were encouraged to visit the Naval Academy to observe its customs and atmosphere, and many men seemed to find such visits inspiring and worthwhile.
Economy dictated the transfer of the school to its birthplace at Newport in September 1949. The cost of maintaining a detached station with all required supporting facilities was too high. At Newport, logistic support is furnished by the Naval Training Station. There are other advantages of the transfer. Newport is a Navy town. The students, instead of being isolated, live on a Naval Training Station in a Navy atmosphere. The U. S. Naval War College is located on a nearby hill. From their dormitories the students see cruisers, destroyers, and, occasionally, an aircraft carrier in Narragansett Bay. One of the most popular by-products of the move to Newport is the availability of speakers of distinction. The present class has had the privilege of listening to such officers as Admiral H. E. Yarnell, former Commander-in-Chief of the Asiatic Fleet, Colonel Samuel B. Griffith, U.S.M.C. who helped chase the enemy off Guadalcanal, and Captain W. G. Chappie, successful wartime submarine commanding officer. Not the least of the advantages offered by Newport is a large drill hall containing four regulation basketball courts, while only one small gym was available at Bainbridge.
Each year in September approximately 500 eager young bluejackets, Marines, soldiers, and airmen arrive from scattered ships and stations to commence on the first of October, the most important seven months of their careers. Success will bring them to the door of the Naval Academy and to the threshold of an interesting, active, and sometimes glorious career as officers in the Department of Defense.
Upon arrival at the school these men represent every branch of every armed service, and this year ranged from a Seaman Recruit to a Second Lieutenant of the Army. The majority, however, are bluejackets and Marines who have been selected by the Bureau of Naval Personnel to compete for one hundred and sixty appointments to the Naval Academy given each year by the Secretary of the Navy. These nominees have been carefully screened at their ships and stations. The screening process consists of an appearance before a board of three officers and an interview with the Commanding Officer. The candidates then take a rigid physical examination and a preliminary mental examination which is held throughout the Navy on the third Wednesday of July. Upon receipt of all nominations and the results of the preliminary mental examinations, the Bureau of Naval Personnel selects approximately 300 candidates and orders them to the Preparatory School. These men then complete the academic course and in April take the Naval Academy Entrance Examinations. The 160 nominees passing highest on this examination receive appointments from the Secretary of the Navy. Last year 243 (87%) of the men competing for the appointments passed the Entrance Examinations. Those who are not among the 160 highest but who pass the Naval Academy Entrance Examinations successfully sometimes obtain either principal or alternate appointments from their Congressmen.
Congressional appointees to the Naval Academy who are serving in the armed services are automatically ordered to this school upon receipt of notification of appointment from their Congressmen. About one-fourth of the student body is received in this manner. Unfortunately these students sometimes arrive after the school year has started, and special effort on their part and special attention by the instructors are required. The third group of men entering are Presidential appointees, appointed by the President from among sons of officers and enlisted men of the regular services, and from among sons of officers and enlisted men who were killed in action.
Regardless of type of appointment, certain requirements must be met before an appointee enters the Preparatory School. All appointees must be unmarried, must be U. S. Citizens, and must pass a rigid physical examination. All must be less than twenty- one years of age on April first of the year in which they expect to enter the Naval Academy, except those who have had one year of honorable war service in the Navy or Marine corps, who may be two years older. For candidates for the Secretary of the Navy’s appointments, one year’s service by 1 July of the year entering the Naval Academy is required.
Although men arriving come from all stations and services and arrive with various types of appointments, after entering the Preparatory School no distinction is made, except that student officers are allowed to live at the Bachelor Officers’ Quarters outside of school hours. There is only one officer student this year. All students take the same course and receive the same privileges.
After arrival, students are formed into a battalion, patterned after a Naval Academy battalion. Student officers are chosen for the battalion from among regularly rated petty officers of the battalion, all of whom previously demonstrated their ability to hold petty officer rates at their ships and stations. One of the battalion’s four companies is composed of Marines and soldiers, and the others are composed of Naval personnel. These men bring with them a wealth of experience gained during their enlisted service, and furnish guidance to their less experienced classmates.
The Battalion organization continues throughout the school year, and provides a basis for control, supervision, and discipline of the students. Commissioned officers function as Battalion and Company Officers exactly as their counterparts function at the Naval Academy. Administration, military drill, parades, inspections, and all other phases of the daily lives of the students are patterned after the Naval Academy. Such a plan enables the student from this school to step into the role of Midshipman with a feeling of familiarity and without the sense of confusion and change characteristic of the Midshipmen from civil life.
After indoctrination and organization are complete, the academic routine commences. There are five academic departments, corresponding to the entrance examination subjects:—Algebra, Plane Geometry, English, U. S. History, and Physics. Since the time to be devoted to the course is less than a high school year and four years’ work in five subjects must be covered, the academic pace is rapid and continuous, with recitations in all subjects daily. The academic routine of study assignment, recitations, and examinations follows closely the Naval Academy routine. Each student is required to prepare a specific lesson for each period and is then called upon to recite either orally or in writing. Here again, such a method tends to familiarize the prospective Midshipman with the pedagogic methods he will encounter for four years. Naturally such a heavy academic schedule and such difficult subjects require much study in addition to classroom time, and the average student finds the pace rapid and difficult.
The daily routine requires the student to turn out at 0600. In the next half hour he attends to his personal needs before eating breakfast at 0630. By 0740 he must have his room and cleaning station squared away. The Battalion forms at 0740 and marches to class behind a student drum and bugle corps. Four hour-long class periods commence at 0800 and end at 1205, when the Battalion again forms and marches to the Mess Hall. 1315 again finds the student starting two more classes of one hour each. By 1515 all recitations are completed and the drill period commences, during which companies are scheduled in turn for varsity and intramural athletics, and extra instruction. Most students are free to pursue their own desires until evening study hour at 1900. Such a strenuous schedule demands an equally vigorous recreational program, and such a program is readily and continuously available. During the free time from 1515 to 1900, before and after dinner, many students engage in organized intramural athletics in which student teams play round-robin tournaments in touch-football, basketball, volley ball, swimming, and boxing. The School team plays service teams and other preparatory school teams in football, basketball, baseball, swimming, wrestling, crosscountry, and lacrosse. A variety of extracurricular activities are available, and include the school year book, “The Cruise,” dances, participation in the activities of a school orchestra, dance band, choir, drum and bugle corps, and working in a hobby shop. Evening meal takes place at 1800. Study Hall is observed from 1900 until 2100. At 2230 Taps is sounded, and 450 tired young men complete a full and strenuous day with eight hours of sleep.
Saturday morning brings Commanding Officer’s Inspection. After inspection, three- fourths of the students are granted liberty to expire at midnight on Sunday. The duty section remains aboard and carries on the usual military and security functions. Those remaining aboard over the weekend may attend Sunday chapel services featuring a twenty-four voice student choir.
By December, all students are more than ready to suspend the academic routine for fifteen days of well-earned leave. After return of students from leave, the academic routine is again followed until the end of March. All non-essential activity then comes to a halt as regular recitations cease and all hands commence a series of practice examinations patterned after the regular entrance examinations for the Naval Academy which are to be given in mid-April. The climax of seven months hard work is reached on the third Wednesday of April when the entire student body takes the Naval Academy entrance examinations. These examinations require three days. After their completion, all students having sufficient accrued leave begin a welcome fifteen-day leave period.
After return from leave and while awaiting the results of the entrance examinations, a short course is given in the subjects the prospective midshipmen will encounter plebe year, with the aim of preparing them sufficiently to ease them over the difficult first month of the Naval Academy’s academic year. During the last week in May this session comes to a close. At the same time, the results of the Naval Academy Entrance Examinations are received and posted. Last year 308 students received the good news that they had passed the Entrance Examinations. Such success confirms the soundness of the school’s educational program and the wisdom of the Navy in establishing such a school.
The school then conducts a graduation week which approximates, in a reduced manner, June Week at the Naval Academy, with practice parades, presentation of athletic awards, and a graduation dance. Graduation notices are presented to those students who successfully passed the Naval Academy Entrance Examinations at a formal afternoon parade which forms the basis of the graduation ceremony. A series of awards have been instituted, led by the Class of 1939 award of §100.00 paid to the Fleet Quota candidate obtaining the highest average marks on the Naval Academy Entrance Examinations. The Hambsch award, a suitably engraved wrist watch, is presented to that student who contributed the most to the morale of the school. In coming years it is hoped that other awards can be arranged.
After graduation the prospective midshipman is transferred directly to the Naval Academy. He then takes the physical examination required of all candidates for midshipman. If he passes this examination he is then discharged from the Navy as an enlisted man, taken to Memorial Hall and sworn in as a midshipman.
The graduates of the Naval Academy Preparatory School have an impressive record at the Academy, in numbers, in scholastic standing, and in athletics. About one- fourth of the present youngster class are NAPS graduates, including all but one of the class officers. Almost one-third of the plebe class received their preparation at this school, including the top man scholastically and 50% of the plebe football squad. Midshipman Phil Ryan, Captain of the 1949 Naval Academy football team, is a Naval Academy Preparatory School man.
Back at the Preparatory School, some of the men who were not fortunate enough to pass their Entrance Examinations are packing their sea-bags for assignment “to duty.” Although they have not reached their goal, they have received an education that will be of lasting value to them in their service careers. But all is not gloom. Some of the men have had the foresight to drop a second anchor to windward. They may have taken the Coast Guard Academy Examination in the latter part of February, or they may have been successful in the fleet competition for NROTC candidates. As previously mentioned, the U. S. Naval School, Academy and College Preparatory, has the additional mission of preparing NROTC candidates
On the fifteenth of June the Preparatory- School begins its summer mission of preparing enlisted candidates from the Navy and Marine Corps for the Naval Reserve Officers’ Training Corps program, popularly known as the Holloway program. To be eligible for this program an enlisted man must be able to pass a physical examination of the same type required for entrance to the Naval Academy, and must be unmarried, a citizen of the United States, and must be recommended by his Commanding Officer as possessing necessary officer-like qualities. He must, in addition, be not more than twenty- one years of age on 1 July of the year he enters the program, be serving in an enlistment, or extension of enlistment, that will not expire prior to 1 September of the year of entry into the program, and must have completed high school or have the equivalent educational background for entry to an accredited college or university. He shall not be a member or former member, or have attended meetings, of organizations which have been designated by the Attorney General to be totalitarian, fascist, communist, or subversive.
Each year nation-wide competitive mental examinations are given in December to civilian and service candidates for the N.R.O.T.C. Program. Ten percent of the candidates selected are chosen from enlisted Naval and Marine Corps candidates. In 1949, this amounted to 200, and these men arrived in mid-June for a two months course designed to refresh their study habits, to review their high school work, and to prepare them for the transition from enlisted candidates to civilian college students. A routine similar to that in effect at the Naval Academy Preparatory session is observed by all students. As with the Naval Academy Preparatory students, rigid discipline is maintained, but during the latter phases of the course, the rigidity of discipline is eased and every attempt is made to promote and develop initiative, a sense of responsibility, and a feeling of independence in order to fit the student for his life in a college atmosphere which will require these characteristics of him. Study habits are regained by the students, who have been away from organized academics for one or more years, and social and educational guidance are provided. The student is counseled and assisted in his efforts to complete his negotiations for entrance to the university of his choice. He is also observed carefully to determine that he possesses officer-like qualifications, and toward the end of the session he is required to appear before a final selection board. If he is selected by this board and has successfully entered a college or university, he is then discharged from the Naval Service in September and proceeds to one of the fifty-two colleges and universities having N.R.O.T.C. units, where he is sworn in as a Midshipman, U. S. Naval Reserve.
Thus, this school serves as a common mold and guide for enlisted men who enter commissioned status through two of the three avenues available to them. Now, more than ever, the enlisted man will find that, by industry and initiative, he may climb the long ladder from Seaman Recruit to Admiral. No longer does he require political connections for his appointment, or financial means for his academic preparation. With pride, example, and perseverence, he is making his preparatory school a Naval institution of tradition and sound reputation. NAPS has come of age.