In the spring of 1943 , research was undertaken on the 

 selection of sonar officers . Two studies were made but the 

 results were not conclusive and,, although a tentative selec- 

 tion scheme was suggested, it was never put into effect. 



Training Program , 



While research on selection was going on, a concurrent 

 program was being developed looking to the improvement of the 

 training programs at the San Diego and Key West Sound Schools. 



At the time of Pearl Harbor , the West Coast Sound School 



at San Diego and the Fleet Sound School at Key West, combined, 



were turning out monthly approximately 100 sonar operators, 

 30 maintenance men and 20 sonar officers . 



With the entry of the United States into the war, the 

 number of sonar students was tripled, but the schools had 

 neither the facilities nor the personnel to train men at the 

 rate required. Due to the lack of facilities, each operator 

 student received perhaps an hour or less of actual practice 

 in operating sonar gear. Much of the student's time was 

 spent in standing by waiting for a turn to operate the few 

 pieces of training equipment which were available. Procedures 

 and doctrines were poorly developed and completely unstandard- 

 ized. It was this situation which Division 6 was asked to 

 help correcto 



Personnel to assist in the development of training methods 

 were assigned to both schools and a section of the San Diego 

 Laboratory was given over to the design of synthetic trainers. 

 The work was begun early in 1942 and was carried through 1943, 

 1944, and into the spring of 1945. 



Soon after the start of the synthetic trainer design 

 program, primary and advanced bearing teachers had been de- 

 veloped and preliminary models were furnished to the schools. 

 Shortly, additional units were being manufactured in quantity. 

 Later, practice targets were developed to aid in training 

 while underway. Training groups, both for sonar operators 

 and maintenance men, were assigned to both sound schools. By 

 the end of 1942, the two schools were graduating approximately 

 500 sonar operators a month" and the supply of synthetic train- 

 ers and other teaching facilities had been increased to such 

 an extent that every student was receiving approximately 15 

 times as much operating experience as at the beginning of the 

 year. 



112 



