Ohio is widely recognized for its aviation heritage and the sprawling Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, but the state is not typically associated with the U.S. Navy. However, for decades, a naval center operated in the heart of landlocked Columbus.
A recent inquiry from Michael O'Sullivan to WOSU’s Curious Cbus sought to investigate a specific claim that elite Navy divers once trained in the murky waters of the Scioto River. O'Sullivan remembers once seeing a map that marked an area as a "Frogmen training base." Since then, he hasn't been able to find evidence to confirm his memory.
The site in question is Confluence Park, a peninsula formed where the Scioto and Olentangy rivers meet near downtown Columbus. The city-owned land now houses the recently reopened Boat House restaurant, but decades ago, the property served a different purpose as a training ground for Navy reservists.
Udo Maroscher, 87, a Navy veteran who immigrated to the United States at age 10, joined the Naval Reserve as a teenager and trained at the site for four years.
"The day I got my citizenship in 1956, I joined the Naval Reserve," Maroscher said. "I and three buddies. And of course, we trained here at the Naval Reserve Center here in Columbus."
The Naval Reserve Training Center opened in 1949. The main building featured 16 classrooms and 30 workshops equipped with radio transmitters, diesel engines and a twin 40-millimeter anti-aircraft cannon. The second floor housed a replica of a ship’s bridge.
Maroscher, who served as an electrician’s mate, reported for duty once a week.
"The unit was division 4-95," Maroscher said. "We drilled every Wednesday night. We had to do two weeks of active duty per year, which one of them was two weeks on a destroyer escort."
The center’s opening was part of a Cold War-era effort to maintain a large naval fleet following World War II.
A U.S. military film released in the 1950s argued that a combat-ready Naval Reserve offered opportunities for "self-improvement" while serving as a "pillar of support" for global peace.
The film also highlighted training in welding, photography and radio operation, but it made no mention of diving.
This Curious Cbus question focused on the presence of "Frogmen," the Underwater Demolition Teams that eventually evolved into the Navy SEALs. So, what about diving and swim training?
WOSU contacted multiple historians and Navy organizations, but was unable to confirm that frogman training ever occurred at the downtown center. While evidence of naval diving remains elusive, the concept of underwater training in the area was not completely unfounded.
In 1960, the Ohio Highway Patrol formed its first underwater squad. Those volunteers, who worked to recover evidence and submerged vehicles, did in fact train in the Scioto River.
Today, nothing remains of the Naval Reserve Center at Confluence Park. The Navy abandoned the facility in 1968, and the building was later demolished. Construction on the current restaurant and event center began in 1986.
For veterans like Maroscher, the memories of drilling on the riverbank nearly 70 years ago remain.
"It brings back some memories. When I was 18, when all this occurred and I started on my way to life," Maroscher said. "And do I regret joining? Oh no. It was a great thing that I did."
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