Los Banos Rotary Club History
Navy Commander Tells Advantages of Reserve Training

Lt. Com. Ellis C. Wheeler, U.S. Navy, Treasure Island, had a busy day in Los Banos Tuesday, speaking at the Rotary and Lions Clubs and high school, and a conference and inspection tour with Lt. Sidney Smith, commander of the Naval Reserve Electronics Unit at the training center at the old Monroe schoolhouse.

Wheeler, who in civilian life is treasurer of a large Salt Lake City wholesale hardware company, is enthused with the advantages of the Naval Reserve program for young men, and he carried his enthusiasm to listeners all over town.

Explaining that under the Universal Military Training Act of 1951 all physically able young men have a legal and moral obligation to support the national defense, he said this obligation covers a period of eight years, of which two years must be active service. This is the basis on which the Selective Service of our country now operates.

The young man of today, he said, faces a military service problem that did not exist when his father was the same age. He must choose whether to enter his military service immediately after high school, or await induction, or start college and risk interruption at such time when he is called to active duty. In any even the young man cannot think of a permanent business career until after he has fulfilled his military requirements.

That is one of the major advantages of the Naval Reserve program, Commander Wheeler emphasized. The young man, still in high school may enroll in the Unit, receive valuable Navy training and be credited against his total service time. When called to active duty he has the advantage of past experience and rating, is better fitted for further training in specialized work, and is in a favorable position for more rapid advancement.

Comdr. Wheeler also recommends Navy training for the young man who is as yet uncertain as to the type of life work he wants to do and for which his natural qualifications are best adapted. There are thousands of Navy jobs, Wheeler said, that parallel civilian jobs, and they form excellent foundations and stepping stones to later civilian vocations.

Regarding the local electronics Unit, Wheeler explained the Navy has invested several thousands of dollars in equipment here, and that expert instruction will be available to trainees. The unit meets one evening a week.
Boys may enlist in the Reserve program when they are 17 and have the assurance they will not be called to active duty before completing their high school education, or before they are 18 ½ years old. Naval Reserve deferments parallel those of Selective Service. College students are entitled to a statutory deferment to the end of the current academic year. Further deferment is on an individual basis, and there is no guarantee. Members of officer candidate programs, however, are deferred to complete college, and Naval Reserve enlistees are eligible to apply for officer candidate programs.
Commander Wheeler, in his talk to the high school boys, urged them to start their military service obligation early, pointing out that it is a compulsory program regardless. A man inducted at 20 years will complete his obligation at 28; a man who endeavors to complete his college training first, faces a like period of military service until he can establish himself in civilian life.
Fathers who advise their sons to "wait and see what happens," Wheeler concluded, are only delaying the day when their son is able to establish his civilian career.

October 10, 1952

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