Navy Recruiting — World War II US Propaganda Posters

Although the number of Navy recruits was far less than that of the Army, the number of young Americans who volunteered to join the Navy, a direct victim of Pearl Harbor, was also not in the minority at the time. But in contrast to the Army training bases located throughout the United States, the U.S. Navy had only three Navy recruit training bases until early 1941.

After surviving the most painful six months of the war, the Americans used their victory at Midway to give themselves some respite. At the same time, the Navy Department began to expand training, and after Roosevelt’s personal approval, it completed the construction of three training bases. By the beginning of 1943, the number of recruits at naval training bases throughout the United States could reach 234,000 (not including the number of naval and Marine airmen), which basically met the needs of the front-line naval forces.

The Navy’s recruitment and training process is much the same as the Army’s. Basic training lasts seven weeks, during which all recruits complete physical training, psychological testing, ordnance firing, and basic maintenance. Subsequently, these recruits are assigned positions according to their respective ship types, with non-combatants going directly to naval technical training schools around the world to complete auxiliary training such as radio operation, electrical and mechanical repair; while combatants go to different training schools to complete no less than three months of advanced shipboard training, through a number of training ships on base to complete specific training subjects such as piloting, navigation, artillery firing, coordinated air defense and mine dropping. The training is conducted through a number of training ships on base that specialize in specific subjects such as piloting, navigation, gunnery, coordinated air defense, and mine launching. After completing all the training, the top recruits were allowed to enter the field as Naval alternate officer, while the rest of the recruits were kept on standby as reservists to be drawn from and supplemented by front-line units.

In addition, similar to the U.S. Army, The Department of the Navy also launched the V-12 Naval Academy Training Program on July 1, 1943, for 131 colleges and universities throughout the United States. The main purpose is to train and reserve senior reserve personnel for the Navy and Marine Corps.Recruits who have completed the four-year college naval training program can enter the Naval ROTC for further training, while those who choose to join the Marine Corps can directly enter the Marine Corps ROTC to complete three months of officer training and receive the rank of second lieutenant upon completion of all training. Frankly speaking, This program is more like reserving manpower for the future of the U.S. Navy, and most of the graduates will only become commanders of small naval vessels, and their showcase is more in the U.S.-Soviet Cold War era.