At the Marine Barracks in Portsmouth there is not in operation a unique institution known as the marine officers school for service afloat. This school, the only one of its kind in existence, has as its objective the training of selected officers for service with the fleet. The course given at the school is so planned as to make the men thoroughly familiar with naval organization, naval duties, etc., in order that they may be fitted for sea duty. The scope of the service rendered on naval vessels by marine detachments and marine officers on naval vessels is constantly expanding. Today the only ships in the navy that do not carry marines are submarines, destroyers and supply ships. Every battleship carries its detachment of marines, as does every armored cruiser, and many of the smaller cruisers and gun-boats also carry detachments. As things stand at the present time marine officers serving with the Navy are assigned to almost every duty that would be assigned the naval officers of similar rank.

The initial session of the School for Service Afloat was held last summer. Then there was a pause in the work; the next class was not graduated until March 8th. The seventeen officers in this class were then sent to the machine-gun school at Utica, New York, for further training.

The sessions of the school are continuous; the present class numbers eighteen men--young officers in the marine corps with the ranks of captain and lieutenant and that some from all parts of the United States. This class will be sent to the navy yard, New York, to await the return of the fleet from winter maneuvers at Guantanamo.

Intensive Theoretical Training: As the work of the school is at present divided, it gives both intensive theoretical training and graphic practical training in connection with naval duties. The officer in charge of the school, Major Joseph A. Russell, U. S. M. C., has mapped out the course on new and original lines. The two instructors assigned to the school are Captain W. Van de Jewett and Lieutenant Richard Livingston.

The formal divisions of the course include organization of the navy department and of ships, seamanship, ordnance gunnery, naval law, etc. The day's work is divided into two sessions: morning hours are given over to recitations and to lectures--these last sometimes being given by the instructors, and sometimes by naval officers who have been invited to speak on special subjects. The afternoon sessions are devoted to series of short lectures, given by the student themselves on various assigned subjects that involve close research into naval affairs.

Some of the Topics: The result of this digging into the archives of naval history, both contemporaneous and extant, is to give to the marine officer who will later serve on shipboard a new viewpoint of the navy and its work. Some of the topics covered have included: "Classes of Battleships of our Navy and their Distinguishing Features," "Enlisted personnel of the Navies of England, France, Germany and Japan," "Clouds and Hydrography," "Naval Engagements of the Civil War," etc.

The school has the use of the 5-inch and one 3-inch gun. The men go through pointing and aiming drills in connection with these guns as well as through loading drills, bore-sighting, disassembling and cleaning them, etc.

Further practical work is given the class in connection with frequent trips to the Navy Yard, St. Julian's magazine, and other stations of the district that afford material of infinite value for the instruction of marine officers in naval subjects. At the navy yard, through thee courtesy of the commandant, the class not only visits the various shops, foundries, etc., by the battleships, destroyers, and other vessels of many types that pass through the dry-docks of the yard.

The present class consists of one captain, nine second lieutenants and eight first lieutenants. Their names and home addresses are as follows: Captain P. W. Jackson, Chicago, Ill.; First Lieutenant H. B. Albar, St. Louis, Mo.; First Lieutenant R. D. Andrews, Sierra Medra, Cal.; First Lieutenant R. C. Battin, Vinemont, Ala.; First Lieutenant W. F. Brown, Chestertown, Md.; First Lieutenant F. W. Heinrichs, Pittsburg, Penn.; Second Lieutenant H. W. Huntington, Eugene, Ore.; First Lieutenant J. D. McDowell, Altoona, Penn.; First Lieutenant H. H. McIntyre, Zanesville, O.; First Lieutenant W. D. McRae, St. Paul, Minn.; Second Lieutenant V. B. Schuler, Montpelier, O.; Second Lieutenant J. T. Thorndyke, Forsythe, Mich.; Second Lieutenant S. H. Wood, Selma, Cal.; Second Lieutenant M. R. Kerr, Cleveland, O.; First Lieeutenant H. A. Rogers, Chicago, Ill.; First Lieutenant J. A. Jordan, Philadelphia, Penn. END.

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Glamour of War Times Attends Departure of Norfolk Marines for West
to Await Call to China
Virginian-Pilot, April 7, 1927

Approximately 175 Devil Dogs Leave Via Newport News, While Remainder,
Under Colonel Davis, Go Over Seaboard Route.

Comparative quiet reigned in the local Navy Yard yesterday after the hustle and bustle attendant upon the departure yesterday morning of the contingents of 320 marines via special trains over the Seaboard Air Line and Chesapeake & Ohio railroads for San Diego, from where they will go to China. Approximately 175 officers and men left promptly at 9:30 o'clock under the command of Capt. R. F. Williams on the navy tug Rocket for Newport News, where the special train stood ready to pull out as soon as the steel box cars containing ammunition and heavy equipment had been unloaded from the barges on which they were ferried across Hampton Roads and had been coupled up.

There was more than an hour's delay in starting the Seaboard's special train from the Navy Yard Marine Barracks, which, however, was welcomed by the friends and relatives of the officers and men who had congregated to bid them farewell. M. E. Haug, who succeeds Col. H. C. Davis as commander of the local American Legion post, headed a delegation which bid Colonel Davis good-bye and presented him a past commander's ring bearing the legions's insignia. Among the delegation were T. T. Phaup, W. J. Crocker, Jr., J. C. Smith, W. J. Joyner, T. A. Flood, C. J. Duke, Jr., W. S. Acton, Jr., and R. M. Emig.

Colonel Davis in Command: Colonel Davis was in direct command of the special train over the Seaboard, which carried the bulk of ammunition, camp paraphernalia and men, and he was accompanied by J. W. Brown, traveling passenger agent of the road.

A force of 1,500 marines will be concentrated at San Diego under the command of Colonel Davis. From this force the Fourth and Sixth regiments of marines will be raised to approximately war strength. What command will be assigned Colonel Davis later has not been made known here, but it was learned authoritatively that he will be among the first to enter the trouble zone in China. His orders are expected to be announced after the force has been assembled at San Diego.

China Probable Goal: That the detachments of marines sent to San Diego will see service in China is considered practically certain in the light of recent developments. The Navy Department has asked the War Department to provide a transport to be held in readiness at San Diego in event the forces assembled there are needed in China. The navy has indicated that it would be advisable to have a transport prepared for momentary departure to the scene of trouble.

Considerable of the glory and glamour of war attended the departure of the marines yesterday morning from the Navy Yard. The Naval Post Band rendered several selections; the men underwent a minute last-moment inspection as to equipment and personal accoutrements, while a large crowd of spectators gazed on. As far as the Marine Corps was concerned everything attendant upon their departure went off like clockwork and but for the delay in "spotting" the Pullman cars in the Navy Yard, both contingents would have left on schedule.

Henderson Sails Today: San Diego, Calif., April 6. Heavy artillery for use in protecting American lives in China was swung aboard the transport Henderson here tonight as final preparations were rushed for sailing of the Sixth Regiment of marines for Shanghai tomorrow.

Naval authorities planned to send the big troop ship out of the harbor before noon tomorrow with 1,500 officers and men of the Sixth Regiment and a huge store of supplies.

So heavily loaded was the Henderson with supplies for the Sixth Regiment, as well as for the marines already on duty in China, that when the heavy artillery was brought aboard it was necessary to lash the guns to the decks.

Advance detachments of the Third Regiment, to be mobilized here, are beginning to arrive from the Northwest and East Coast. Bremerton, Mare Island, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Quantico and Norfolk are furnishing the men for the Third Regiment.

Col. Henry C. Davis is to be in command of the Third Regiment, while Col. Harold Snyder commands the regiment sailing tomorrow.

MARINES EMBARK TODAY FOR NICARAGUAN "WAR"
Portsmouth Star, January 9, 1928

Over 500 Go From Local Barracks
Only Veterans Selected for Campaign Against Rebel Leader, Sandino

Assembled at the local Marine Barracks from several points North and East, including Quantico, and numbering 65 from the local barracks, upwards of 500 enlisted men and officers of the Marine Corps were ready to depart this afternoon under command of Colonel Robert H. Dunlap of the Quantico Marine Corps School, veteran campaigner, for the trouble zone in Nicaragua to reinforce their comrades there. The local contingent, comprising nearly half of the Eleventh Regiment, was scheduled to leave this afternoon at 4 o'clock on board the USS Oglala, sailing direct for Corinto on the west coast of Nicaragua.

The local Marine Barracks was not able to supply a great number of men because of the ranks there having been depleted when detachments were some time ago sent to China, including Colonel Henry C. Davis, former commandant here. The rest of the new contingent are from Quantico, New York, Boston and Washington.

To Scene of Action: The Eleventh is a hastily formed regiment. They left the Navy Yard at 1:30 o'clock, making the trip to the Naval Operating Base in trucks. Immediately following their arrival there, the Oglala will be in readiness to put to sea. Captain W. S. Pye, commander of the mine layer, has completed the discharge of mines to make room for sleeping quarters aboard the vessel. The Oglala will proceed with all possible speed to the scene of action.

While war-time scenes were being enacted here today, similar pictures reminiscent of the World War were present at San Diego, Cal., and Charleston, S. C. At the head of the marines in Charleston is Major General John A. Lejeuna, commandant of the corps, who is bound for the Central American Republic to gather firsthand information of the strife there involving his marines and the forces of the insurrecting Augustino Sandino.

Most of the men going from Hampton Roads are veterans and none being taken to Nicaragua who have less than six months to serve of his enlistment. Goodbyes, reminiscent of the war days, were said at the marine base yesterday as the men and officers equipped themselves for a long campaign.

In Charleston harbor today were the cruisers Trenton, Raleigh and Milwaukee, designated to carry the Parris Island battalion of Leathernecks. The Trenton, flagship of the cruiser group, which is commanded by Rear Admiral George C. Day, assigned quarters to General Lejeuna, while Brigadier General Logan Feland, who is to command the augmented marine force in Nicaragua, was arranged for aboard the Raleigh.

When the 1,000 marines from the east and west coast unite with their buddies now on the scene, the forces in Nicaragua will approximate 2,400. They will devote their activities, General Lejeuna said before leaving Washington yesterday, to eliminating Sandino from the otherwise peaceful Nicaraguan horizon before the August elections.

The general intends merely to inspect his charges in Nicaragua and gather information which probably will be of value to the administration in its study of the situation which has provoked much criticism in and out of Congress. Actual command of the campaign will be left to General Feland. General Lejeuna may penetrate interior Nicaragua as far as Quilall, present center of Sandino's activities, and upon leaving will sail for the west coast of the United States to inspect marine detachments there.