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Maritime training fund, base statement for 1946 (by functions and activities)-Continued

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Inclu 10s $1.5,207 for Sheepshead Bay Hospital transferred to U. S. Public Health Service in 1946.

1 1, 462, 078

76, 134, 706 986, 871

167,500 191, 476

77,814,000 1, 186, 000

+191, 476

-9,009

+259, 188

+1, 679, 294

-43,840

+199, 129

Comparison of 1945 budget provisions and 1945 program as revised in 1946 budget

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Included in "Upgrading" in 1945 Budget appropriation.

Included in "Training stations and ships," "Officer candidate schools," "Graduate stations," and Enrolling offices," in 1945 Budget appropriations.

INCREASES FOR STAND-BY CHARGES

Mr. CANNON. On page 135, under "Recruitment and manning operations," you estimate a need for $11,593,000 as compared with $7,925,732 for the current year. The largest part of that increase seems to be for stand-by charges, for which you estimate $7,008,000, an increase of $2,236,862. What is the need for that increase?

Admiral LAND. It is purely a quantitative increase in proportion to the number of men employed, which in turn means that they will have to be trained or recruited, or both. As evidenced by the number of men and the number of ships, we have to increase this quantity up to the maximum figure estimated in 1946 to about 272,000 men. Mr. CANNON. Why should not this cost of stand-by wages be charged to the revolving fund and figure in the cost of operations? Admiral LAND. I do not know of any reason why. I think this is in accordance with the Bureau of the Budget's ideas. While it is a figure that requires considerable scrutiny for justification, the only answer I can give you is that if you have a ship that is worth $2,000,000 and a cargo worth $2,000,000, you want it to sail, and it has got to meet the convoy, and you simply have to have this pool of men available to man the ship.

We have been in some awfully tight squeezes, especially as I indicated yesterday, such as we had last fall; but thanks to the efficiency of the organization, we were successful in manning the ships and without any delays in convoys.

I should like also to pay a compliment to the Coast Guard for making certain waivers for us in order to accomplish this.

Mr. CANNON. Do you not think, Admiral Land, under your statement there, that this ought to go rather into the cost of meeting emergencies, such as, as you indicate, meeting your convoys on time, rather than being figured into the cost of training?

Admiral LAND. As I say, the only reason I can give you is that this is the way the Budget wants it and we set it up accordingly. It could be charged to wages and operations of ships, there is no question about that. There is no objection to its being trasnferred.

TRAINING OPERATIONS

Mr. CANNON. On page 143, your estimate for training operations is $62,116,000, compared with appropriations totaling $65,676,859 in 1945. Take up each type of training, will you, Admiral Land, and explain each item?

Admiral LAND. Of course, there are three or four types of training, starting in with the cadet training at Kings Point, which is analogous to West Point and Annapolis in the armed services, from which we get our younger officers, who are graduated with the rank of ensign whether they are engineering or deck. We have other officers. training at New London. The second category is unlicensed personnel. They are trained at various training institutions, the largest being at Sheepshead Bay, which station has the largest number in the United States, as indicated by the justifications.

Then, we have upgrading schools. They are in operation at the proper points nearest the scaboards.

Then, we have specialists, such as cooks, bakers, and radio operators. Particularly in the case of radio, we have two schools, one in New

York and one in Boston. Then there is a fifth category, the State maritime academies, of which there are five. They come under a separate category. In other words, we train men to be officers through academies fully analogous to the Army and Navy.

We also train them, as we call it, coming up through the hawsepipe, without going through the academy. We have the same kind of training that parallels the armed services.

One I did not mention is the correspondence school, which is in New York, to improve the education of the type of men we have in the service. So there really are six categories.

Mr. CANNON. The training in each category is indispensable and is being handled satisfactorily in every respect?

Admiral LAND. In my judgment; yes. I think it is one of the outstanding accomplishments of the organization, which is only about 160 years behind time in getting going.

(The following statement was submitted later:)

DEVELOPMENT OF AN ATHLETIC AND RECREATION FIELD AT KINGS POINT, U. S. M. M. A.

The chairman has asked me to submit a statement about the need for the development of an athletic and recreation field at the United States Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point at a cost of $125,000 which appears as an item in our budget estimates.

We

The fact is that physical training and fitness is regarded both by the Navy and ourselves as one of the prime requisites for turning out an adequate officer. regard this as so absolutely essential that in the absence of an athletic field we have been using temporarily three plots of land belonging to the village of Kings Point for this purpose. They are situated from 1 to 5 miles from the academy grounds and we have had to transport the cadet-midshipmen in busses. There are no facilities for showers and lockers at these places and the time involved in using them interferes seriously with our other schedules. All of these activities should be conducted on the academy grounds where proper care can be taken of the young men participating in them.

I wish to point out that no additional property need be acquired for this purpose. We already own the land designated for use as an athletic field. All that is involved is the leveling, grading, draining and clearing of the field, the laying out of playing fields, and the installation of portable bleachers, showers, lockers, toilets, gear lockers, and offices for instructors. A justification for this expenditure appears on page 153 of our estimates.

The Government has a splendid plant at Kings Point but it is not complete without this athletic field. The academy has been set up as a permanent institution with the approval of the Congress, and should be self-contained.

Of course, I have another reason for supporting this athletic field. Everyone knows that I am interested in athletics and that I believe that nothing is more conducive to the development of morale, stamina, and "esprit de corps" of a body of students and young men generally.

It has been suggested that the present drill field at the academy can be used for this purpose, but this is not practicable as it interferes with that important function of the academy. The drill field cannot be cut-up and laid out for the necessary types of playing fields for daily use. It might be used for exhibition games on occasion, but not otherwise.

I submit, therefore, that the development of this athletic field is essential and in the best interests of the academy.

Mr. CANNON. Are there any questions, gentlemen?

Mr. TABER. You are using about how many men in your service

now?

Mr. JOHNSON. In the Merchant Marine?

Mr. TABER. Yes. 225,000?

Mr. JOHNSON. Roughly 250,000.

NUMBER OF EXPERIENCED SEAMEN

Mr. TABER. How many experienced seamen are there in the country today?

Admiral LAND. We had in 1939 somewhere between 35,000 and 45,000 men afloat, and a very rough estimate of somewhere between 150,000 and 200,000 men who had been to sea with varying degrees of experience.

Our training takes green hands and brings them through a training course. Our recruitment and manning takes people as we can get them who have had some sea experience. We have been successful, with tremendous effort, to recruit from those who had been at sea heretofore a large number of what we call our R. M. O. organization. The combination of R. M. O. and training has produced a sufficient personnel to man ships, and we expect it to continue.

Mr. TABER. I have heard it intimated that there were in this country something in the neighborhood of 800,000 experienced seamen. I do not know enough about the picture. It is simply one of those things that drift in in different news items, and things of that sort. am wondering what the actual situation is.

I

Admiral LAND. We have records in the various organizations of the commission of the men who have been to sea and have certificates or licenses, and we have followed those up.

Of that estimated 800,000 and more, many are in the armed services, particularly the Navy. A great many of the rest that have been to sea are in industrial organizations. A great many of them are superannuated. So the net result of this, if there is any index in it, is somewhere between 250,000 and 300,000 men. We have searched them out as best we can and have got a number of them. But a great many of them do not want to go to sea. This is a voluntary service. Many of them are occupied in shipyards, airplane factories, and other wartime industries.

So while your over-all figure may be correct, I have never heard of any such figure. But the records would not give any such quantity as that that are available to any Government agency.

Mr. WIGGLESWORTH. Right in that connection, I have a letter from the Acting Commandant of the Coast Guard dated April 13, showing a total of 822,421 holders of certificates, and it is broken down into able seamen, lifeboat men, general certificates of service, tanker men, staff officers, and so on.

Admiral LAND. Apparently my memory is incorrect on the numbers here. I am still dubious.

Mr. WIGGLESWORTH. I have also had called to my attention an article in the Southern Marine Review of January of this year, that indicates that you have trained since November 1942 over 350,000 men, and it puts a figure on certificates of over 700,000. It indicates that there may be some duplication in the two figures.

Captain MACAULEY. That includes all sorts of things-tugboat men, Great Lakes, small craft-everything over 100 tons. It even includes people who have got certificates but have never gone to sea. Our information is that it includes also some dead ones. But the figures are inaccurate, and we are now having conferences with the Coast Guard to get these records straightened out.

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