Evening Republican, Volume 17, Number 81, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 April 1913 — Making future Naval Officers [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Making future Naval Officers

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T is a far cry from the tall, dignified and soldierly looking officer who walks the quarterdeck es the superintendent’s house at the United States Naval academy, and whose word Is law to the 750-odd ( youths whonj Uncle Sam is training to command his

forces afloat, to the tall but sad faced youngster who for 13 blessed Saturday afternoons paraded the academy grounds, carrying the black flag, back in 78, but the fact that they are one and the same only goes to prove that there Is a generous amount of human nature in the man who now presides over the destinies of the 750-odd embryo admirals. Furthermore, it constitutes strong contrlbutive evidence that human nature, and especially boy nature, has not changed much from 1878 to 1912. But the melancholy tale of “the death of liberty” and the black flag which marked ft must give place to more serious matters for the present. It was in May, 19J.1, that Secretary Meyer detailed Capt John H. Gibbons as superintendent of the naval academy. Captain Gibbons had recently completed a' tour of duty on the Asiatic station, where he commanded the cruiser Charleston, and had been assigned to the general board when the late Captain Bowyer’s falling health compelled him to resign the superlntendency of the naval academy. Captain Gibbons was chosen to succeed him. Fully half of the new superintendent's service had been spent at sea, and twice he had circumnavigated the globe. He had seen service on the little old training ship Jamestown, and rounded the Horn In her back in 'B2, and one of his tours of shore duty had been as naval attache M the American embassy to England. Thoroughness had marked all his work. His courtliness of manner had won for him, almost back of his “plebe" days, the sobriquet of “Marquis de Gibbons," and, above all, he was Imbued with the spirit of the navy. It Is not surprising that his selection should have been greeted with expressions of approval from all who knew him well. Neither Is It surprising that all he has achieved and sought to achieve as superintendent of that educational institution, which was awarded the gold medal at the Paris exporsitlon as the ■finest governmental educational Institution In the world, should have been of a nature to commend Itself to popular as well as to professional approval. It Is not necessary to talk to Captain Gibbons to\percelve that he takes his work seriously, but when one does talk to him and hears him modestly discuss his aims and aspirations for the academy which is so dear to his heart one is Impressed with the full measure of thought and study and, perhaps, even worry which this quiet, determined man Is giving to the most Important work In the navy. Poor ships may be made to give a fairly good account of themselves in the hands of skilful ofllcers, but the best snips can accomplish nothing if they are not well commanded. Moreover, ■on the brains and skill and energy of the young men now being trained at the naval academy must depend $e future efficiency ofthe fleet, for on them will fall the responsibility of deeignlng as well as fighting the navy of the future. Five distinct has Captain ■Gibbons set himself to achieve driving his present tour of duty. These are (1) the facilitation of admission of ■candidates; (2) the simplification of the curriculum; (8) the substitution of naval officers for civilian teachers wherever practicable; (4) the absolute elimination of haring, and (5) the “dignlficatlon,” If the coining of a word be allowed, of the first class. Sad experience—for every occasion for severe discipline Is an occasion of sadness to Captain Gibbons—has taught the evils of the training or coaching schools for candidates for the academy, especially those which involve absence from home, an absence free alike from the Influences of the home and the restrains of military discipline. Boys preparing for their entrance examinations are usually young and impressionable, and too

often those who go away from home to coach form habits and associations which remain to hamper them throughout their Career at the academy, which sometimes destroy their chances of success. At many of these schools are met what are known in academy parlance as “bilgers,” young men who for one reason or another have failed in their studies and have been dropped, but who can command sufficient political Influence to grain re-entry. That there may be young men of worth among them is not denied, but that In the generality of cases there is some grave defect of character is the contention of ttye academy faculty, and it to emphatically asserted that contact with them rarely fails to injure the boy who is preparing for his iniial examination. For this reason Captain Gibbons has made a serious and a successful effort to modify the entrance examinations In order to obviate, as far as possible, the necessity for special coacning for the boy with a good high school education and sufficient brains to carry him through once he gains admission. Second chronologically, but not in Importance, are the changes which Captain Gibbons to effecting In the curriculum of the academy. The complexity of modern naval warfare as compared with that of a former generation, the intricacies of the modern battleship as compared with the sailing frigate of the early part of the last century, must be apparent to the veriest tyro. And with this development came Increases in and complication of the academy curriculum. In the effort to turn out midshipmen proficient in all the phases of duty they would be called upon to perform there has been an ever Increasing danger that, like -the proverbial jack of all trades, they would be master of none. The Importance of a change of system was obvious to those who gave the subject sufficient serious consideration. The first step toward correnting the evil was'necessarily In the direction of specialization. There were no superfluous subjects, therefore provision must be made for special training In the subjects eliminated after graduation. Some progress along that line had already been made, but now a pnat graduate school has been established at Annapolis and a systematic and varied course provided. Captain Gibbons has been made head of ihe more advanced school, as he Is of the Naval academy.' The entrance examination has been somewhat simplified by the elimination of world’s history and in some minor details. The first year’s work has been made more elementary and is better designed to afford asubstantlal basis for subsequent education. The practice of sending the first and second classes to sea with the fleet Instead of on school ships during the summer months, in order that they may have an opportunity to apply their knowledge and to supplement theoretical experience, has been adopted, and the more advanced features, such as tactics, law and constructive and designing technical work, have been either eliminated or abridged, with a view to their further pursuit after graduation. The post-graduate course will, In the main, be preceded by three years of sea service and qualification for the grade of junior lieutenant. For the present the course will Include ordnance and gunnery, marine engineer-

Ing, electrical engineering, radio-teleg-raphy, naval construction and civil engineering. An immediate occasion of some, at least, of the changes in the curriculum, etc., was the enactment of congress providing that midshipmen should be commissioned as ensigns on the completion of their four years’ course at the Naval academy, Instead of being carried as passed midshipmen for two years before attaining the grade of ensign. Captain Gibbons Is convinced v that no influence is so to the young men at the academy as association with officers of the navy, from whom, he believes, they will, even unconsciously, absorb much of that spirit which has made the navy always the pride of Americans and the admiration of the military world. It is to that end that he would, where it can be done without detriment to the academy, substitute officers for civilian teachers. In some degree this is getting back to the custom which prevailed when he was himself a midshipman, or, rather, a cadet, as they were termed In those days, the cadet becoming a midshipman only after graduating from the academy. The brigade was far smaller than it is today. Officers were more numerous in proportion to the demands of the fleet than they have been for a considerable time, and small classes with numerous officer instructors were the rule. To the good Influence of the Instructors with whom he came in con-' tact Captain Gibbons Is ever ready to testify. This does not mean, of course, that the superintendent contemplates substituting officers for the Instructors in foreign languages—termed “dago” by the midshipmen—or that he would seriously Impair the efficiency of the Instructing body to carry out bls theory, but he does believe that the more the midshipmen can be brought In contact with naval officers the more thoroughly they will be fitted for their vocation, and he would even sacrifice something of pedagogic proficiency to gain such association. For the practice of hazing, or even “running,” which is the term given by the midshipmen to the milder forms of that delectable pastime, Captain Gibbons has little toleration. Congress has forbidden all forms of hazing, and that alone, in the eyes of the superintendent, makes it his duty to stomp out the' practice. And it is safe to say that he has done more to achieve this end than any of his predecessors. He has visited swift and summary justice on those found guilty of disobeying the law and the regulations in this respect. In summarizing the alms of Captai a Gibbons, reference was made to the “digniflcatlon” of the first class, that Is, the graduating class. It to a part of the superintendent’s policy to enhance the standing of that class in the eyes of their fellow-midshipmen in all ways possible and at the same time to Impose on first class men /additional responsibilities, making them In large degree accountable for the enforcement of discipline, and, precisely as from among their number are chosen the officers of the brigade, still further to fit them for the duties of command for which they are being trained, while incidentally they reader valuable assistance by way ot example and control in governing the younger midshipmen.