Structure of naval officer corps in modern Japan: formation through education and examinations

Two Decades Ago, Holger Herwig's The German Naval Officer Corps: A Social and Political History, 1890–1918 (1973) chronicled the story of the new military elite that rose to prominence when imperial Germany went to sea: a corps that sought to emulate the traditions of the Prussian army, its middle-class officers eager to embrace the values and attitudes of the more aristocratic army officer corps.1 Recently Istvan Deak's excellent work Beyond Nationalism: A Social and Political History of the Habsburg Officer Corps, 1848–1918 (1990) has provided a comprehensive picture of the officer corps of the Habsburg army.2 Like imperial Germany, Austria-Hungary was a central European land power with few long-standing traditions at sea, but differences in social composition, training, and outlook distinguished the Austro-Hungarian naval officer corps from its German counterpart. Within the Dual Monarchy the navy had to deal with the nationality question and other challenges that also faced the army, but in many respects its officer corps reflected the diversity of the empire more than the Habsburg army officer corps did, contributing to the navy's relatively more successful record as a multinational institution.

Reviewed by: Uriah Levy: Reformer of the Antebellum Navy Kevin J. Weddle Uriah Levy: Reformer of the Antebellum Navy. By Ira Dye . Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2006. ISBN 0-8130-3004-3. Photographs. Illustrations. Notes. Bibliography. Index. Pp. xii, 299. $59.95. Ira Dye, historian and retired naval officer, has succeeded in the daunting task of recounting the life of Uriah Levy, an important antebellum figure in the U.S. Navy. Skillfully connecting the dots using meager written records, Dye has produced a well-written and engaging story of an officer who faced the difficult challenges of a mostly peacetime military career in the antebellum period, while at the same time experiencing daily anti-Semitism at the hands of his subordinates, peers, and superiors. Born into a prominent Philadelphia Jewish family, Levy ran away to sea and the merchant service in 1802 and rose to command his own ship at the tender age of nineteen. He joined the U.S. Navy in 1812 where he served until his death in 1862. In addition to his naval service, Levy turned shrewd real estate investments into a personal fortune and used it to purchase Thomas Jefferson's Monticello, saving it from ruin. During his fifty years on active duty, Levy did not see combat, but he served faithfully in peace and in war and his life story provides a wonderful glimpse into the social history of the U.S. Navy. Dye reveals the frustrations endured by ambitious officers while serving under a system that rewarded longevity over merit. He also sheds light on the navy's often close knit, yet just as often dysfunctional, wardrooms. Petty disagreements, misunderstandings, perceived and genuine slights, and very real prejudice could and did lead to discord on board U.S. Navy ships. Levy experienced it all and, indeed, was responsible for many of the problems he encountered along the way. Levy was arrogant, proud, loud-mouthed, and hot-tempered and was often unpleasant and insulting to his fellow officers. Because of his "prickly" personality, Levy was often in conflict with his fellow officers. These confrontations led to one duel in which Levy killed an officer in 1816, and several courts-martial. While Levy and others claimed that many of these difficulties were due to anti-Semitism in a predominately gentile officer corps, Dye objectively observes that "most of his problems were the result of his own behavior" (p. 105). It is not surprising that Levy was one of those officers selected for removal from the officer corps by the 1855 Efficiency Board, although he was reinstated in 1857. On the other hand, Levy could be a steadfast friend and comrade and he was an enlightened and dynamic leader, especially to his enlisted crewmembers. Dye's account of Levy's attempt to create a more positive leadership climate while commanding his first ship reveals just how tradition bound and resistant to change the U.S. Navy was between the War of 1812 and the Civil War. [End Page 925] Dye's use of neglected sources such as court-martial records help fill in the gaps in Levy's career and shed considerable light onto the state of the naval officer corps. The author's own thirty-year naval career provides insights into navy life that many historians might have missed. However, the book's title is a bit misleading. While Levy did try to implement a more enlightened command philosophy and vigorously opposed corporal punishment, he was certainly not a reformer in the same league as Robert Stockton, Samuel Francis Du Pont, and Matthew F. Maury. Also, the book is very expensive at $59.95. It will be a shame if the high price scares potential readers away. Those quibbles aside, this is an important book in helping to understand the antebellum naval officer corps, and Dye has done a great service by telling Levy's story. This book will appeal to naval historians and anyone interested in the antebellum military. Kevin J. Weddle U.S. Army War College Carlisle, Pennsylvania Copyright © 2007 Society for Military History

LUNCHEON ADDRESS: AMERICA — THE SPIRIT OF AMERICA; “CRISIS IN CONFIDENCE”

BANQUET ADDRESS

Naval Engineers JournalVolume 86, Issue 1 p. 39-44 CNO PILOT PROGRAM FOR BRIDGE MANNING CDR. JOHN DACHOS, CDR. JOHN DACHOS USN The author graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1959 and was assigned to the USS McGowan (DD-678) where he served as Damage Control Assistant. This was followed by a tour as Engineer Officer in the USS Stribling (DD-867) until 1963 when he went to the Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, Calif, ultimately receiving his MS degree in Physics. He then spent the summer of 1965 conducting research in plasma physics at the Naval Research Laboratory, followed by an additional year at graduate school before attending the U.S. Army Intelligence School at Fort Holabird, Md. Upon completion of this course of instruction, he was assigned next to the Staff, Commander Naval Forces Vietnam as Chief of Collection for Intelligence, subsequently returning to sea as Enginer Officer in the USS Leahy (DLG-16) commissioning crew and later as Executive Officer of the commissioning crew for the USS Vreeland (DE-1068). After this, he attended the Command and Staff Course at the Naval War College, Newport, R.I., graduating with distinction, prior to coming to NSRDC where he is presently serving as Project Officer for the Shipboard Manning and Automation Program. He is a member of the Society of Sigma Xi, and included among his military decorations are the Navy Commendation Medal with Combat V; the Navy Achievement Medal; the Navy Expeditionary Medal; the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal; and the Vietnam Service Medal with two stars.Search for more papers by this author CDR. JOHN DACHOS, CDR. JOHN DACHOS USN The author graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1959 and was assigned to the USS McGowan (DD-678) where he served as Damage Control Assistant. This was followed by a tour as Engineer Officer in the USS Stribling (DD-867) until 1963 when he went to the Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, Calif, ultimately receiving his MS degree in Physics. He then spent the summer of 1965 conducting research in plasma physics at the Naval Research Laboratory, followed by an additional year at graduate school before attending the U.S. Army Intelligence School at Fort Holabird, Md. Upon completion of this course of instruction, he was assigned next to the Staff, Commander Naval Forces Vietnam as Chief of Collection for Intelligence, subsequently returning to sea as Enginer Officer in the USS Leahy (DLG-16) commissioning crew and later as Executive Officer of the commissioning crew for the USS Vreeland (DE-1068). After this, he attended the Command and Staff Course at the Naval War College, Newport, R.I., graduating with distinction, prior to coming to NSRDC where he is presently serving as Project Officer for the Shipboard Manning and Automation Program. He is a member of the Society of Sigma Xi, and included among his military decorations are the Navy Commendation Medal with Combat V; the Navy Achievement Medal; the Navy Expeditionary Medal; the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal; and the Vietnam Service Medal with two stars.Search for more papers by this author First published: February 1974 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1559-3584.1974.tb03566.xCitations: 3 AboutPDF ToolsExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat Citing Literature Volume86, Issue1February 1974Pages 39-44 RelatedInformation

Reviewed by: The Long Road to Annapolis: The Founding of the Naval Academy and the Emerging American Republic Wayne Wei-siang Hsieh (bio) The Long Road to Annapolis: The Founding of the Naval Academy and the Emerging American Republic. By William P. Leeman. (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2010. Pp. xiii, 292. $39.95 cloth) In the Long Road to Annapolis, William P. Leeman, a professor of history at the Naval Academy's archrival on the Hudson, analyzes the historical context surrounding the founding of the U.S. Naval Academy in 1845. His monograph examines the U.S. Navy methods for training officers before the founding of the Naval Academy through a system of apprenticeship at sea inherited from Royal Navy practice, [End Page 217] calls from naval reformers in the early republic to professionalize the education of naval officers, the influence of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point as a model and example for those reformers, and the Jacksonian opposition to professional military education that helped delay the founding of the Naval Academy for so long. While Leeman makes no dramatic contributions to our scholarly understanding of the founding of the Naval Academy, he deftly draws together all the historical strands that make up the historical context surrounding it. Leeman's study serves not so much as a history of the early years of the Naval Academy, which already exists in the form of Charles Todorich's The Spirited Years: A History of the Antebellum Naval Academy (1984), but as an analysis of the debates and historical setting surrounding the contentious founding of the academy. For that reason, Todorich begins his study with a quick survey of the early history of the American Navy, including its reliance on an apprenticeship model for officer preparation with adolescent boys serving as midshipmen aboard ships. During their time at sea, these midshipmen learned naval officership through practical experience. This system produced naval officers with successful combat records during the War of 1812, but from the earliest days of the republic, some Americans called for a more academic system of education and training for future naval officers. Leeman chronicles an increasing consensus within the navy's officer corps after the War of 1812 in favor of reforming the midshipman system with a more professional system of officer education that would include academic instruction and moral development in schools onshore. The academy was founded, in short, "to provide the academic background, especially in scientific and technical subjects, needed to operate a navy that was gradually becoming more modern and, second, to develop distinguished gentlemen who possessed strong moral character" (p. 234). Leeman thus integrates the story of the founding of the academy with larger currents in middle-class American culture, which hoped to not only allow young people to acquire necessary scientific knowledge, but to cultivate important moral virtues and refined gentility among future professionals. Because [End Page 218] of the navy's role as de facto diplomats in the antebellum period, this was seen as an especially important function. Problems with the old apprenticeship model of midshipman training, highlighted most spectacularly by the controversial execution for mutiny of a midshipman, who happened to be the son of the secretary of war, and two sailors on board the Somers in 1842 also strengthened calls for reform. Leeman also does an able job of analyzing opposition to the creation of the Naval Academy on Jacksonian grounds. He thus integrates the founding of the academy with the story of both the rise to prominence of West Point during the Jacksonian period as a model of professional education and its opponents in Congress who saw the institution as dangerously aristocratic and militarily unnecessary. Secretary of Navy George Bancroft in 1845 eventually overcame such opposition through savvy bureaucratic maneuvering. In short, Leeman has made an able contribution to scholarship on the United States Navy in the context of the history of the early republic. Wayne Wei-siang Hsieh Wayne Wei-siang Hsieh teaches history at the U.S. Naval Academy. He is the author of West Pointers and the Civil War: The Old Army in War and Peace (2009) and is a Henry Chauncey...

Compiled from official records and unpublished material, the author builds a unique and fascinating social history of the U.S. Navy's officer corps between its establishment in 1794 and the end of the War of 1812.

By the mid-nineteenth century the United States Navy's personnel system based entirely on seniority had created an officer corps filled with many old, infirm, and incompetent men, while blocking the promotion of many deserving officers. Commander Samuel Francis Du Pont, along with several other political and military leaders, was instrumental in achieving significant personnel reform that temporarily broke the promotion logjam by removing much of the deadwood from the naval officer corps. This article draws upon previously neglected material to provide a fresh look at Du Pont's role in the work of the United States Navy's Efficiency Board of 1855.

Compiled from official records and unpublished material, the author builds a unique and fascinating social history of the U.S. Navy's officer corps between its establishment in 1794 and the end of the War of 1812.

Reviewed by: Citizen-Officers: The Union and Confederate Volunteer Junior Officer Corps in the American Civil War by Andrew S. Bledsoe Lorien Foote Citizen-Officers: The Union and Confederate Volunteer Junior Officer Corps in the American Civil War. Andrew S. Bledsoe. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2015. ISBN 978-0-8071-6070-1, 352pp., cloth, $47.50. Historical and sociological studies of soldier motivation in wars of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries agree that the leadership of junior officers plays a significant role in the willingness of soldiers to fight and in their performance in battle. Although studies of Civil War soldiers abound, until now there has been no monograph that focuses exclusively on that conflict’s junior officer corps. Andrew Bledsoe’s Citizen-Officers provides a much-needed examination of the men who were the “sinews and tendons” of Civil War armies (71). Although most of his conclusions will not surprise scholars who are well versed in the sources and literature on soldiers and armies, no other book better captures the challenges of command during the Civil War and the transformation of volunteers into a cadre of effective officers. Volunteer officers, like the soldiers they commanded, were immersed in a republican citizen-soldier ethos that was not necessarily compatible with the demands of military service. They believed in voluntary consent, moral excellence and self-control, egalitarianism, and that ability rather than status should determine who rose through the military ranks. Thus they often struggled with the tension between their own beliefs and the need to establish authority and discipline. The majority of junior officers commissioned before 1864 became officers through election. Although this process created problems, it also ensured that officers were men who possessed the leadership abilities necessary to win the approval of a majority of their men. Bledsoe’s research sample indicates that officers were older than enlisted men, mostly unmarried, practiced a trade or profession, and were from middle-to upper-class backgrounds. [End Page 68] In his best chapter, “The Challenges of Company Leadership,” Bledsoe considers how these elected, untrained, and inexperienced citizen officers legitimized their authority and established command over the independent-minded citizen soldiers who continually tested the boundaries of army discipline. Through trial and error, natural ability, creativity, and observation, they learned the skills they needed. They had to master many roles: caretaker, motivator, disciplinarian, teacher, counselor, conflict resolver, and bureaucrat. They had to be carefully attuned to the physical and emotional needs of their soldiers. But most importantly, they had to internalize a “habit of command” and compartmentalize their instincts toward egalitarianism. A “command presence,” combined with the powerful interpersonal relationships and deep connections that officers developed with their men, was key to successful leadership in battle. Officers needed to win the trust of their men, and Bledsoe argues that for this purpose displays of “competence” on and off the battlefield were more important than displays of courage. Over time, volunteer officers “developed a unique interior culture” that blended examples they took from the regular army officer corps with their persistent citizen soldier ethos (102). Bledsoe describes a process of “regularization” rather than professionalization through which officers consciously adhered to a modified version of the standards, customs, and systems of the regular army. Gentlemanlike behavior that encompassed self-restraint, virtue, and courtesy, among others, was essential to this culture. Bledsoe concludes his study by considering volunteer officers in combat. Early battles were initiations that provided the essential foundation for the future. By 1863, officers had learned that discipline in battle was more needed than personal bravery and that effective leaders were constantly aware of the condition, needs, and fighting effectiveness of their men. Their most important role in battle, Bledsoe argues, was emotional. They were the “moral center of gravity” for the volunteers in their company during the stress and terror of battle. They calmly translated the surrounding chaos into a set of problems and actions the men could understand and perform. As volunteer soldiers became veterans, officers were less occupied with custodial roles and were able to turn their focus and energies toward battlefield circumstances and tactical factors. Three years of combat changed the composition of the officer corps...

Predictors of Likelihood and Intensity of Past-Year Mental Health Service Use in an Active Canadian Military Sample

This study aims to investigate the relationship of Chinese music learning attitude, learning environment, academic achievement, and Chinese music achievement among elementary school Chinese orchestra members and also examine the differences between orchestra members with different background variables. This study expects to use Chinese music learning attitude, learning environment, and academic achievement as predictors of Chinese orchestra members’ music achievement. This study investigated the relationships among Chinese music learning achievement, attitude, and academic achievement among students in Taichung City who participated in the competition for Chinese music ensemble of the National Music Competition for Elementary School Students in 2010. The sample comprised of 343 students. The “scale of Chinese music learning attitude and learning environment for elementary school orchestra members” was used. Besides, the students’ academic achievements and Chinese music learning achievements were also collected. Data were analyzed using methods including mean, standard deviation, t-test, Pearson product-moment correlation, one-way ANOVA, and multiple regression. The main conclusions were as follows: 1.The students participating in Chinese orchestras had positive learning attitude and perceptions of their learning environment. 2.The students showed a high level of academic achievements and an intermediate-high level of Chinese music learning achievement. 3.The students’ Chinese music learning attitude and learning environment did not significantly vary by gender, parents’ education background, parents’ occupation, and parents’ experience of playing musical instruments. 4.The students’ overall academic achievement was not significantly affected by their gender or parents’ experience of playing musical instruments. 5.Parents’ education background and occupation were significant factors affecting the students’ overall academic achievement. 6.The students’ Chinese music learning achievement did not significantly vary by gender, parents’ education background, occupation or experience of playing musical instruments. 7.Father''s experience of playing musical instrument was a significant factor affecting the students’ Chinese music learning achievement. 8.The students’ Chinese music learning attitude was significantly related to their learning environment. 9.The students’ Chinese music learning attitude was not related to their academic achievement to a significant level. 10.The students’ learning environment was not related to their academic achievement to a significant level. 11.The students’ Chinese music learning attitude was significantly related to their Chinese music learning achievement. 12.The students’ learning environment was significantly related to their Chinese music learning achievement. 13.The students’ Chinese music learning achievement and academic achievement were significantly related. 14.Chinese music learning attitude, learning environment, and academic achievement were effective predictors of the students’ Chinese music learning achievement.

Along with the church, the military is the last major profession in which women face significant and entrenched obstacles to career advancement. In this paper, we examine the progress of women in the Australian Defence Force in the past two decades, and analyse attitudes towards female integration in the officer corps. The data are provided by a survey of 1518 officer cadets in Australia's four officer-producing institutions conducted in 1987, 1988 and 1989. The results show that family and educational background is of little significance in determining attitudes towards integration, but that gender and military values exert a strong influence. Possible reasons for these results are discussed and the prospects for the continued integration of women in the officer corps are evaluated.

Academic achievement of students at the primary school level was a foundation for acquiring educational skills, materials, and knowledge, usually spanning a variety of disciplines. Understanding the factors affecting mathematics achievement at primary school was important for deciding on the teaching and learning process of mathematics in secondary and higher education. This study investigated the factors that influence the academic achievement of students in mathematics in Kaffa Zone Tello Woreda Oda primary school. The target groups for this study were 318 grades 5- 8 students. This group was sampled using stratified sampling techniques, and the sample size was 160 students. The data was collected using questionnaires, student interviews, and a teacher questionnaire. The data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics and multiple linear regression models using a statistical package for social science (SPSS version 20). The finding of this study indicates that students’ academic achievement in mathematics is significantly related to students’ attitudes towards mathematics, studying systems of mathematics, math-test anxiety, and learning resources of mathematics. The significant relation of academic achievement with the predictor variables accounts for 56.8% of the variance. This indicates that the prominent factors for academic achievement in mathematics were students’ attitude towards mathematics, studying system of mathematics, math-test anxiety, and learning resources of mathematics. The other factors investigated by descriptive statistics were parents' educational background, parents' occupation, and teacher-related factors such as teachers' attitudes towards the subject, teachers' methodology, and teaching strategies. Generally, the factors influencing the academic achievement of students at the primary school level were students’ attitudes towards mathematics, studying system of mathematics, math-test anxiety, learning resources of mathematics, parents’ educational background, and parents’ occupation, teachers’ attitude towards the subject, teachers’ methodology and teaching strategies. Finally, the researchers suggested that the concerned bodies should take measures of these factors that influence the academic achievement of mathematics at the primary school level to boost the students’ academic achievement in mathematics.

Investigating First Year Undergraduate EAL Students' Academic Literacy Experiences.