Several principal offices coordinate their efforts to establish a cost-effective plan for the cycle of new developments. Included are the offices of the Chief of Naval Operations; Commandant of the Marine Corps; Systems Commanders; Chief of Naval Personnel; and Commander,  Naval  Reserve  Force.  These  offices closely coordinate their efforts to develop, carry out, and maintain training programs while the y develop, procure, modernize, or alter operational equipment. MANAGEMENT ACTIONS You should effectively manage your manpower resources. To do that, ensure the number of billets and positions assigned on your activity’s Manpower Authorization are the minimum requirements needed to support your mission, functions, and tasks. Also, identify, via the chain of command, all billets and positions in excess of those required. Review all your authorized billets and positions at least annually to ensure your manpower requirements are properly stated and are within CNO policy constraints. You may decide to request an increase in your manpower resources because of a change in tasks or an increased workload. Before requesting an increase for such  reasons,  analyze  all  of  your  manpower requirements and the billets and positions authorized. To the extent possible, meet increased requirements by reassigning the people you have. Submit requests for manpower authorization changes in advance of the requested effective date of the change. Allow adequate time for review by the various levels in the chain of command. Because of fiscal constraints, rotational patterns, training, and deployment schedules, you may be unable to man newly authorized billets in less than 5 to 9 months. NAVY ENLISTED CLASSIFICATION STRUCTURE/SYSTEM The Navy Enlisted Classification (NEC) structure identifies special knowledge and skill levels. NECs consist of a four-digit numeric code, sometimes preceded by a letter designation (e.g., 0878, DG-9730, YN-2500). The use of codes for these skills helps the Bureau of Naval Personnel (BUPERS) and individual commands track manning levels of specially trained personnel An NEC usually indicates personnel have graduated from a special Navy school that teaches a specific skill. They may have learned an operational skill (e.g., gram analyst for sonar technicians) or a maintenance skill (e.g., maintenance of LM-2500 gas turbine engines). However, an NEC can also indicate that personnel have gained a skill through on-the-job training. Types of NECs The Navy uses three types of NECs: entry, rating, and special series. The following is a description of each type: 1. Entry series NECs–These NECs consist of rating  conversion  and  occupational  area-defense grouping NECs. They only apply in the training pipeline. Rating  conversion:  This  type  of  NEC identifies the skills or aptitude of personnel in training for another rate, such as the following: Boatswains Mate Basic BM-0199 Yeoman Basic YN-2599 Machinist Mate MM-4299 Occupational area defense grouping: This type of NEC relates to groups of entry ratings for which an identified requirement exists in multiple services. Occupational NECs are numbered from 9700 to 9780, and each area is identified by its third digit: DG-9700 Infantry gun BM, QM crews, Seamanship Specialist DG-9710 Equipment ST, FC, MT, ET, Specialist Repairman DS, AX, AT, AQ 2. Rating series NECs–These NECs relate to specific ratings and are used to identify billet requirements or skills not sufficiently identified by the rating alone. The Bureau of Naval Personnel (BUPERS) uses rating series NEC designations to allot specially trained personnel to the commands that need them. The following is an example: Personnel in the Gunner’s Mate rating have basic knowledge and maintenance skills in the area of guns, small arms, and ammunition. A Gunner’s  Mate  needs  special  training  to perform preventive maintenance on a particular gun system such as the 76-mm Otto Melara. After receiving special training on the 76-mm Otto Melara gun system, a Gunner’s Mate would receive the NEC 0878. 6-2