Mr. SHALLENBERGER. Is this school something that has been started since the war? Is it a new school or is it an old school? Admiral BILLARD. It was started back in 1873. It has not been at New London all of the time. I can give you the history of it later, if you desire. Mr. GARBER. I assume you have a similar bill pending in the Senate? Senator BINGHAM. Senator Jones, chairman of the committee in the Senate, has introduced a similar bill in the Senate. Mr. HOCH. Thank you very much, Senator. Now I think it would be well for me to read this letter from the Secretary of the Treasury: Hon. JAMES S. PARKER, TREASURY DEPARTMENT, Washington, January 4, 1929. Chairman Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, House of Representatives, Washington, D. C. MY DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: There is transmitted herewith a draft of a bill "to provide for the construction of buildings and appurtenances for the Coast Guard Academy." If you find this bill consistent with your own ideas, I shall be grateful if you will introduce the measure and further its consideration by Congress. At the Coast Guard Academy cadets are trained to become commissioned officers of the Coast Guard. There are just three schools maintained by the Federal Government for the purpose of qualifying young men to hold commissions in the service of the United States. These three are the United States Military Academy, the United States Naval Academy, and the United States Coast Guard Academy. The course at the Coast Guard Academy is three years and the department would be disposed to make it four years except for the very urgent need for commissioned officers in the Coast Guard. The Coast Guard Academy is, of course, of the utmost importance to the service and bears the same relation to it as does the Military Academy to the Army and the Naval Academy to the Navy. The Coast Guard Academy will be of vital necessity as long as the Coast Guard endures. The Coast Guard Academy is now located on the Fort Trumbull Reservation at New London, Conn. The cadets are messed and quartered and receive instruction in two wooden buildings that were hastily erected during the World War for temporary occupancy by enlisted men of the Navy. These buildings are utterly out of keeping with the requirements of the school, are not worth continuing in existence, and are veritable fire traps involving serious danger to human life. The utter unsuitability of the physical plant at the Coast Guard Academy is immediately apparent to the most casual observer and is a profound discouragement to the school. Young men entering the academy as cadets and looking forward to a life career as officers of the Coast Guard form their first impressions of the service by what they see at the academy, and, with respect to adequate buildings and other physical evidences, their first impressions must be most discouraging. As a matter of fact, a number of them first arriving at the academy and seeing the physical conditions there have promptly resigned and gone home. It is believed that there is not throughout the length and breadth of the United States a town of 3,000 inhabitants that has not one or more school buildings of a more dignified and substantial character than any building at the Coast Guard Academy, which trains young men to be worthy to receive the President's commission as officers of one of the oldest services under the Federal Government. It is understood that a beautiful and suitable site on the Thames River at New London, Conn., can be obtained by the Government for the use of the academy for a purely nominal consideration. An appropriation of $1,750,000 will afford a modest and reasonable plant for this Coast Guard school. I have for a number of years called attention in my annual reports to the very unsatisfactory conditions existing at this school. In my judgment the time has now arrived when it is imperative that something be done to remedy these conditions. If the Coast Guard is to continue, it must have commissioned officers, and, to obtain commissioned officers, this school must be maintained. I, therefore, very earnestly recommend approval of this proposed legislation. The Director, Bureau of the Budget, advises that this proposed legislation is not in conflict with the financial program of the President. Respectfully, A. W. MELLON, Secretary of the Treasury. Admiral Billard, we will be glad to hear from you and have you present this matter in any way you see fit. STATEMENT OF REAR ADMIRAL FREDERICK C. BILLARD, COMMANDANT UNITED STATES COAST GUARD Admiral BILLARD. Mr. Chairman, I think the general situation has been very clearly described in the Secretary's letter and in what Senator Bingham has said to you this morning. I am entirely certain that any intelligent man who visits the present Coast Guard Academy will frankly state that its physical characteristics are a disgrace to the United States and a disgrace to the Coast Guard. The Coast Guard goes back to 1790. It can not possibly carry on without trained commissioned officers. It can not get trained commissioned officers unless it trains them at its school. The young men who are being prepared in a course that we regard with great pride, for commissions in the Coast Guard, are being domiciled, messed, instructed, in two wooden frame buildings that were erected during the World War, purely as temporary structures and to accommodate enlisted men of the Navy. They are utterly unsuitable. The statement can not be questioned, that there is not in this entire nation a town of 3,000 people that does not have a better school building than any one building at the Coast Guard Academy. The general picture having been laid before you by the Secretary's letter and by the Senator, possibly I would save your time by now endeavoring to answer any specific questions you have in mind. Mr. CROSSER. I would like to ask the admiral where these boys were trained before these structures were built at the time of the World War? Admiral BILLARD. Possibly a brief history would be helpful. The system of appointing cadets to be trained as officers in the service originated back in 1876 or 1877-I can give it exactly for the record. Mr. CROSSER. That is near enough. Admiral BILLARD. And we had a practice ship at New Bedford, Mass. It stayed there for quite a number of years, and then the school was moved to Curtis Bay, near Baltimore, Md. That situation soon became impracticable, whereupon, in 1910, the school was moved to New London, to this Fort Trumbull Reservation, which belonged to the Army and which was turned over to the Coast Guard. When the school was at New London just prior to the war they had a very few cadets, and they managed to get along after a fashion in what was there. Now, with 107 cadets the situation is intolerable. Mr. SHALLENBERGER. They have 107 today? Admiral BILLARD. Yes, sir. Mr. CROSSER. Admiral, I want to say that this is a service, in which the men wear uniforms, and for which I have a high regard. I would like to know what course of instruction is given these boys in this school? Admiral BILLARD. I will be very glad to describe that, sir. Our course of instruction is very closely modeled after the course at the United States Naval Academy. Our boys come in a little older, so that at present our course is only three years. It is the earnest desire of the department to make it four years as soon as we can fill up our officer grades a little more. At present we are laboring under an acute shortage of commissioned officers, which is the greatest handicap the service now has. So at this school our cadets have seamanship, navigation, ordnance, radio, steam engineering, electricity, and all that sort of thing. Mr. CROSSER You said that the preparation is very much like that at the Naval Academy rather than West Point, or both? Admiral BILLARD. The Naval Academy. Mr. CROSSER. That is what I thought you said. Admiral BILLARD. Of course, West Point is for the land forces. Mr. GARBER. What are the qualifications for entrance? Admiral BILLARD. Cadets are appointed in the Coast Guard by competitive examination held throughout the country. The qualifications are about the same as those for admission to Annapolis or West Point. Mr. GARBER. What is the age limit? Admiral BILLARD. The age limits are 18 to 22 at present. Mr. GARBER. And how are the entrants apportioned, distributed over the country? Admiral BILLARD. They are not distributed by law or regulation at all, for this reason: With West Point and the Naval Academy, of course you gentlemen have a certain number of appointments. We take in each year in our school 50 or 60 young men. Now, that number is so small that it is not practical to apportion it, and we let any young man of good character, within the age limits, who has obtained the necessary credits at high schools and the like, take this examination, which is competitive. So that we may have a considerable number from one section and not so many from another, and so on. Mr. GARBER. Well, each Member of Congress is annually confronted with the problem of assisting young men to enter a school, either at West Point or Annapolis. Admiral BILLARD. Yes. Mr. GARBER. And I was wondering if this would be an additional facility to distribute the membership of young men of that disposition. Admiral BILLARD. I may say that each year I have sent a circular letter to Senators and Representatives, telling them of this examina. tion, with accompanying circulars, and many of you gentlemen have cooperated with us most helpfully by letting the information go to your respective districts, from which act we get an appreciable number of applicants. Mr. GARBER. What are the inducements of this school, or arrangements of this school to pay the expenses of the students? Admiral BILLARD. A cadet at the Coast Guard Academy gets, under the law, exactly the same pay and allowances as a midshipman at the Naval Academy, and upon graduation is commissioned an ensign in the Coast Guard, with precisely the same pay and allowances as an ensign in the Navy. Mr. GARBER. Suppose a concrete illustration. I have on my West Point and Annapolis list perhaps 10 or 15 more applicants than my apportionment will accommodate. If I would recommend their application to your school and they were able to pass the required examination, what would be the prospect of their admittance there? Admiral BILLARD. They would be permitted by us to take the competitive examination. Under the law the examination must be competitive, and whether they would obtain an appointment or not would be dependent upon their standing in the examination. Mr. GARBER. Well, if they were successful? What is the limit of the number that your school would accommodate? Admiral BILLARD. One limit at present is the inadequacy of our plant, which we have just been describing. Mr. GARBER. But there is no legal limit? Admiral BILLARD. No legal limit. The other limit would be the needs of the service. There is no legal limit. Mr. CROSSER. You never know exactly from year to year what number you are going to add, do you? Admiral BILLARD. No, sir. Mr. SHALLENBERGER. Do you ever have more than you need? Mr. SHALLENBERGER. You have never had to refuse anyone able to pass the examination? Admiral BILLARD. I had better make that clear. For example, this last year, as I recall it, we appointed about 50, and as I remember, there were probably 60 who passed. Of course, we had many more who took the examination. As I remember it, there were about 60 who passed, and we were able to appoint some 50. Mr. GARBER. Where are these examinations held? Admiral BILLARD. At convenient points over the country; as widely distributed over the country as we find it practicable to do. Mr. SHALLENBERGER. Does that mean that of the 30, or whatever it might be that you could not take, who passed the examination, that they were refused admission because you did not need them or because you did not have quarters for them, or just what was the reason for it? Admiral BILLARD. In this latter case it was because we did not have the quarters. We did need them, certainly. Mr. SHALLENBERGER. You really wanted them but you did not have a place for them? Admiral BILLARD. Yes, sir. Mr. HOCH. Are those men carried on the list for next year, or do they have to take another examination the following year, provided their age is all right? Admiral BILLARD. We feel that the spirit of the law requires them to take the examination again. It would hardly be fair to the new competitor under the law to do otherwise. Mr. CROSSER. There must be some limit, however, in addition to that due to inefficiency of quarters, by the appropriation that is made for your service, is there not? Admiral BILLARD. The law says the number of cadets shall be such as the needs of the service require, and of course what we do is to consider prospective vacancies in the commissioned ranks and not appoint more than will be needed, and that we have done so is proven by the fact that there has never been a cadet graduated there for whom there was not a vacancy waiting. Mr. HOCH. How long are they required to serve in the Coast Guard after graduation? Admiral BILLARD. We require them to sign a promise to serve for three years as an officer after graduation. Mr. HOCH. Similar to the Navy? Admiral BILLARD. Yes, sir; quite similar. Mr. CROSSER. Then they are always subject after that, of course, to the call to service in case they are needed after they withdraw from the service? Admiral BILLARD. If the officer or cadet withdraws, there is no legal obligation remaining on him. Mr. HOCH. What is the history as to withdrawals? Do very many of them withdraw at the end of three years, or do they stay in the service? Admiral BILLARD. They all stay in. Those who withdraw from the Coast Guard Academy are those who are requested to withdraw, largely. Mr. HOCH. What I had in mind, Admiral, was, do many of them leave at the end of three years or do they remain in the service? Admiral BILLARD. Practically none of them leave. Mr. CROSSER. If they do, can you call them back in case of necessity? Admiral BILLARD. No, sir; we have no authority to call them back. Mr. WYANT. Have you gone so far as to work out a plan showing how many pupils or cadets these buildings will accommodate? Admiral BILLARD. I did not quite understand you, Mr. Wyant. Mr. WYANT. Have you gone so far as to calculate how many cadets these buildings that are proposed to be erected by this $1,750,000 will accommodate? Admiral BILLARD. From 150 to 200. Mr. WYANT. Would that meet the present requirements of the service or more? Admiral BILLARD. That wold be slightly more than the present requirements, but no more than the inevitable requirements in the near future. Mr. HOCH. Will you make a statement as to what buildings are contemplated in this plant that is to be built there? Admiral BILLARD. Yes, sir. I might suggest this thought, that if we can get this new academy on the site which Senator Bingham has described, we can use the present Fort Trumbull to great advantage in connection with the receiving and training of enlisted men. At present in this circumscribed Fort Trumbull we have to have sometimes as high as two or three hundred enlisted men under training, who are mixed up with the cadets under training, which is a very bad situation, as you can appreciate. If we can get this academy put on this new site, this Fort Trumbull Reservation will be of great value to us in connection with enlisted men and operating problems. |