1,000 flying hours are logged on an F-14
Tomcat’s engines—these engines should have
been replaced after 750 hours.
The USS Missouri (BB-63) fired 400 rounds of
16" projectiles in practice but deployed with only
20 rounds on board.
Both of these situations were avoidable. The
division concerned should have kept up-to-date files.
You are aboard a ship under way in the North
Atlantic. Think about going on a lookout watch at
midnight in December. You arrive for watch at the
prescribed time to find no foul weather gear available.
The person responsible for maintaining an inventory of
special gear didn’t do the inventory because he/she
didn’t think it was that important last June in sunny
Florida.
You must remember that besides your division, the
entire crew and even the ship itself may depend on how
well you maintain your assigned logs and files.
3-M SYSTEMS
Learning Objectives: When you finish this chapter,
you will be able to—
Recognize the concepts of the 3-M Systems.
Identify the basic procedures used in the 3-M
Systems.
Equipment must be cared for. One way to take care
of equipment is through preventive maintenance.
Preventive maintenance is maintenance done before a
problem exists. The Navy has procedures (ways to do
things) and schedules for accomplishing (doing)
preventive maintenance. These procedures and
schedules are part of the Maintenance and Material
Management Systems—the 3-M Systems. The
objectives of the 3-M Systems are shown below.
Maintain equipment at maximum operating
efficiency
Reduce equipment downtime
Reduce the cost of maintenance in both money
and man-hours
Provide data on the expenditures of spare parts,
failure rates, man-hours expended, and other
information directly related to maintenance
Essentially, the 3-M Systems is used to improve the
material readiness of the fleet. The main feature of the
3-M Systems you will be concerned with is the planned
maintenance system (PMS).
PMS simplifies maintenance procedures by—
Defining the maintenance required,
Scheduling its performance,
Describing the tools and methods to be used, and
Providing for the detection and prevention of
impending casualties.
Your department head uses PMS to manage,
schedule, and control the maintenance of assigned
equipment. The components (parts) of the PMS are—
PMS manual,
Cycle, quarterly, and weekly maintenance
schedules; and
Maintenance requirements cards (MRCs).
PMS also provides a good foundation for training in
equipment operation and maintenance. As you become
more familiar with your shipboard duties and are
assigned the responsibility for equipment maintenance,
PMS will play a big part in your daily activities on the
job.
REVIEW 6 QUESTIONS
Q1. What type of documents would require the CO’s
personal signature?
Q2. Where can you find a list of command personnel
that has signature authority to sign command
correspondence?
16-23
Student Notes:
