The regular course of study is four years although the President was authorized by the act of Congress of March 4, 1917, to reduce the course to three years for a period of two years from the passage of the act, owing to the urgent need of more officers in the Navy. WARRANT OFFICERS Warrant officers form an intermediate class between the commissioned officers and the enlisted personnel. They receive appointments from the President but are not confirmed by the Senate. They are appointed by selection from the most efficient and deserving enlisted petty officers. After six years’ service as warrant officers, if found qualified, they are commissioned by the President, “by and with the advice and consent of the Senate,” as Chief Boatswains, Chief Gunners, Chief Machinists, Chief Carpenters, Chief Sailmakers, Chief Pharmacists and Chief Pay Clerks, as the case may be, to take rank with but next after Ensigns. The Warrant Officers of the Line are as follows: Boatswain Gunner Machinist The Warrant Officers of the Staff are as follows: Carpenter Sailmaker Pharmacist Pay Clerk All warrant officers take rank and precedence next after commissioned officers, their relative rank among themselves being determined by date of appointment. Warrant officers are eligible to be commissioned as Ensigns after passing the prescribed examination, in which case they are advanced to higher rank in the same manner as other Ensigns commissioned after graduation from the Naval Academy. In this manner a young man who proves himself worthy of the honor may rise from the lowest enlisted grade to be an Admiral. ENLISTED MEN OF THE NAVY The highest grade of enlisted men in the U. S. Navy is that of Mate. Mates are rated by authority of the Secretary of the Navy from seamen of over two years’ service. They have no relative rank, but take precedence over all other enlisted men. They wear a uniform like that of warrant officers with a distinctive insignia as later described. The classes of enlisted men in the Navy corresponding to the “noncommissioned officers” of the Army and Marine Corps are styled “Petty Officers.” All of the enlisted men of the Navy are divided into branches according to their principal duties, the different grades in these several branches being as follows: CHIEF PETTY OFFICERS