NAVAL MILITIA. The first naval militia organization in the United States was estab lished in the State of Massachusetts as a part of the organized militia on 29 March 1890. Other seacoast and lake States soon followed. In 1891 there was included in the Naval Militia Act, as passed by Congress, an appropriation of $25,000 for *Arming and Equipping Naval Militia.* This constituted the first Federal appropriation available for the purchase of arms, equipment, etc. Appropriations have been included annually in the Naval Act since that time. Ships were loaned to the organization and material and equipment issued by the vari ous bureaus of the Navy Department for train ing purposes, the details being carried on by the *Office of Naval Militia.* The States them selves purchased clothing and equipment. Some equipment was loaned by the War Department. Annual practice cruises were made and the training of the naval militia gradually pro gressed. In February 1914 °An Act to Pro mote the Efficiency of the Naval Militia and for other Purposes,* commonly known as the °Naval Militia Act,* became a law, and is the act under which the naval militia has since operated. In accordance with this act, the Division of Naval Militia Affairs was estab lished in April 1914, by taking over all work formerly performed by the *Office of Naval Militia.* A National Naval Militia Board, composed of naval militia officers, representing the north Atlantic, south Atlantic, Pacific and Great Lakes regions, convenes in Washington as often as necessary and is freely consulted in all important naval militia matters. Inspec tions of all naval militia organizations and divisions are made annually by officers of the navy, to determine whether or not the divisions are sufficiently armed, uniformed and equipped to participate in the allotment of Federal funds for the ensuing year. The first of these in spections was made in the spring of 1914, and as a result several divisions were disbanded. A board of naval officers formulated examina tions for officers and enlisted men and stan dardized, in accordance with the National Militia Act, the qualifications of the naval militia personnel. This board met in Wash ington and, assisted by the National Naval Militia Board, formulated a report published in the form of a general order, which established the units of organization, distribution of per sonnel and other matters which in accordance with the act the Secretary of the Navy was authorized to prescribe— the unit of organiza tion being the division (battalion). Aeronautic divisions and marine sections were authorized, while brigade and battalion organizations were maintained for administrative and other pur poses. By the Act of 3 March 1915 a naval reserve force was authorized consisting of six classes: (1) The Fleet Naval Reserve, (2) the Naval Reserve, (3) Naval Auxiliary Re serve, (4) Naval Coast Defense Reserve, (5) the Volunteer Naval Reserve, (6) the Naval Reserve Flying Corps. The Fleet Naval Re serve is composed exclusively of ex-officers and ex-enlisted men of the navy who have left the service under honorable conditions and who are citizens of the United States. Men who have served one enlistment creditably and re ceive an honorable discharge may enroll in the fleet naval reserve with pay at the rate of $50 per annum. Those with eight years and less than 12 years naval service may enroll with pay at $72 per annum. Those with 12 years Or more naval service enroll with pay at $100 per annum. Men who have served in the navy for 16 years or more may transfer to the naval reserve at one-third of their base pay plus all permanent additions thereto; and men with 20 years or more may transfer to the reserve at one-half their base pay plus all permanent addi tions thereto. In addition to these rates of pay men who enroll in the reserve receive an increase of 25 per cent for each re-enlistment. It is required of them, however, that they shall serve at least three months on active duty during each four-year period and re-enroll within four months. Men who transfer with 16 or 20 years' service are allowed a further increase of 10 per cent for extraordinary hero ism in line of duty; and those with 20 years' active service are given a further credit of 10 per cent, provided their average marks in con duct for 20 years or more shall be not less than 95 per cent of the maximum. Men trans ferred to the fleet naval reserve, upon com pleting 30 years' service, including active and reserve, be retired with the pay they are then receiving plus the retired allowances. Men who enroll in the reserve may be retired after completing 20 years' service in the reserve and receive in lieu of their pay a cash gratuity equal to the total amount of their pay during the last term of their enrollment. Members of the fleet naval reserve may be examined for war rants and commissions in the reserve. Men who enroll in the reserve with four, eight or 12 years' active service are given a clothing allowance, each enrollment amounting to $30, which amount is increased to $60 in time of war or national emergency. As with all
organized militia, the naval militia, even with the laws of 1914 and 1915, could not, under the Constitution, be called into service as such ex cept for limited duties, such as to repel invasion. It could not be used outside the territorial limits of the United States. It is evident that, with such restrictions, militia could hardly meet the requirements of the navy in a foreign war, and to overcome this difficulty the "National Naval were created in the act ap proved 29 Aug. 1916. Under this act members of naval militia organizations were authorized to volunteer for "any emergency,* of which emergency the President became the sole judge. By joining the navy as volunteers instead of being called as naval militia, militiamen can be used for any naval duty, free from the re strictions imposed on the naval militia as such The value of this law became apparent as soon as the United States entered the European War. Practically every one in the naval militia at once volunteered and was sent to duty, thus giving the country the services of the trained men who otherwise could not have been used until the country was to be invaded. In the same bill that created the national naval volun teers, other laws were enacted that are of vital importance to the navy and country. That bill carried nearly all of the legislation that was needed to give the navy the personnel required for war. It provided organizations that in peace and at minimum cost prepared personnel for war, and the form of the laws was such that the personnel could be expanded to meet almost any emergency. Among the other im portant measures, the bill (1) provided for the United States naval reserve force; (2) in creased the enlisted personnel of the regular navy to 68,700 and provided for further in crease by the President to 87,000; (3) provided for the automatic increase of officer personnel in each corps to correspond with increases in enlisted men; (4) provided for naval flying corps, for special engineering officers, for tak ing over the lighthouse service by the navy in time of war, etc. The creation of the United States naval reserve force was a wise pro vision. The only training in peace times of reserve man power for the navy was in the naval militia, and even under the acts federal izing it the naval militia met only to a minor extent the deficiencies in personnel for com batant ships alone. It in no way met the re quirements for personnel for auxiliaries, avi ation, technical duties, etc. A much broader plan was necessary if the navy was to have sufficient man power and of the proper quali fications for war service. The naval reserve force legislation gave the navy the broad organ ization by which a reserve could be formed. The purpose of the reserve force is to enroll and train 'in peace time all kinds of personnel which in time of war or when the President de clares a national emergency to exist can be called to the colors and thereafter be used in any capacity in the navy. This act became a law only a few months before war came and when only the very first steps to create the re serve had been taken. Nevertheless the law was so wisely drawn that the force could be rapidly built up even in war time. While it provided for the naval reserve force that has stood the country so well in war, the act fur ther provided for war by increasing the per manent enlisted strength to 68,700 and per mitting its further increase to 87,500, in the discretion of the President. As the permanent navy is the foundation of the naval structure, these increases, made when they were, put the navy in a position to expand on a sound basis, and especially so as in the same bill provision was made to automatically increase officer per sonnel when the enlisted personnel strength was increased. Up to the passage of this act the number of officers allowed for the navy was numerically fixed by law. Even though enlisted strength increased, officer strength could not be increased except by special legis lation to that sole end. It is apparent that such a plan of increases was cumbersome and difficult, and upon the recommendation of the department a law was enacted in this bill that automatically changed the number of officers whenever the enlisted strength was changed. All corps and all grades in each corps were provided for in this legislation, so that now, when increases in ships of the navy occur, it is only necessary to authorize the enlisted per sonnel to meet those increases and the officers' personnel becomes immediately provided for. Had this provision not been in force when war was declared the navy could not have carried on its part in the war so and so suc cessfully. See UNITED STATES NAVAL RESERVE