The Navy's Use of Motion Picture Films for Training Purposes

William Exton

The expansion of the Navy requires expansion in personnel as well as in materiel. The expansion in personnel means the provision of literally hundreds of thousands of men trained in the operation of complicated equipment. — Naval training is usually conducted by skilled officers. At present, officers who might normally be assigned to training duties are required for operations at sea. The number of men to be trained has increased enormously, and the number of fields in which they must be trained has also increased because of the development of new technics and materiel. New inventions have brought about the need for training in fields in which there is virtually no experience and concerning which only a few experts have knowledge. — The Navy believes that the use of audio-visual aids will be of tremendous help in this connection. These can not entirely replace the skilled and experienced officer, but they have certain very definite advantages. One of these is the standardization of instruction, so that men trained at every activity will have interchangeable skills. Another is the supplementing of the instructor who may not have had much pedagogical experience or be an able teacher, although he may have ample knowledge of the subject. The third is the stimulation of the interest of the trainees. It is possible through visual aids to give them a more comprehensive picture of the application of the technic they are learning to general naval operations than is normally possible during training. The armed forces of the United States, guided by such considerations as these, are carrying the use of audio-visual aids for training purposes beyond civilian experience with these media. It is to be hoped that the experience gained and the technics developed will be of value in the future for civilian purposes.

Print ISSN
Published
1942-06
Content type
Original Research
DOI
10.5594/J09885