RADIO SCHOOL TRAINS 1800

With 1800 sailors "on board" the Radio School is now the largest establishment of its kind in the entire country, and probably in the world. So successful has been the work of the school and such complete facilities for proper training are there provided, that all radio schools in the country are being closed as quickly as is possible, with the exception of those small stations preparing men for entrance to this Cambridge post.

The requirements for admission are not exacting, the only test being that one must be able to send at least 10 words a minute in the International Morse Code. Most of the men in training are from the regular Navy with approximately 600 of the naval reserve. Some are sent from ships, while others are ordered here from their places of enlistment. Many are enrolled from as far away as the Pacific Coast and the gulf states.

The course of instruction consists of 16 weeks of intensified training in every branch of the electrical science in any way conected with radio work. During the first few weeks the instruction covers only the most elementary portions of the work, whereas in the latter part of the four months' training all of the time is spent in gaining speed and accuracy in operating the radio telegraph and in the theory and practice of the various instruments used by radio operators. At the end of the course a sailor is prepared to assume the duties and responsibilities of either a land or sea station. Ordinarily the graduate is graded as a second or third class electrician depending upon his ability. Approximately 125 men enter the school each week and in the near future every seven days will graduate a like number.

The work of the day is long and hard at the Radio School. From reveille at 5.30, through clases in the morning, afternoon, and sometimes early evening, the men are following strictly a schedule until "lights out" at 10 o'clock. Drill for the two battalions is held for a short time each afternoon and soon a review on Soldiers' Field every Saturday morning at 10 o'clock will be a regular part of the week's program. The importance of drill, however, at the Radio School, is not so great as in other camps of a different nature, for the long hours spent in radio work leaves only a short time for other things. Then, too, from the character of his work, the radio operator is not expected to be so proficient in drill as those in other branches of the navy.

Lieutenant Nathaniel F. Ayer, N. R., is the commanding officer at the Radio School, and under his direction is a corps of about 50 instructors.