The outbreak of World War I in 1914 proved that a modern war at sea required 
a federal naval reserve force. Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels and his 
assistant, a young Franklin D. Roosevelt, launched a campaign in Congress to
appropriate funding for just such a force. The men’s efforts brought passage of
legislation on March 3, 1915 which created the Naval Reserve Force.

As of September 2012, the Reserve consists of 108,718 officers and enlisted
personnel who serve in every state and territory as well as overseas.

Josephus Daniels

Franklin D. Roosevelt