CHAPTER 7 SUPPLY PROCEDURES When a piece of equipment becomes inoperative because of a broken part, you must replace the broken part. If you do not have a replacement or spare part, you must order one from supply. What must you do to obtain materials from the supply department? What forms are used to requisition materials? As a petty officer, you should be able to answer those questions. Why is that so important? Because as a petty officer, you may be the work center supervisor responsible for maintaining the equipment within your center. The purpose of this chapter is to help you become familiar with the workings of the supply department. By understanding how the supply department works, you can use the Navy supply system to help you carry out your duties more effectively. You will be provided information on material identification (that is, national stock number format, etc.), requisition documents, and material expenditures. This chapter is not intended to make you an expert in the area of supply. Rather, it is designed to give you a basic understanding of supply matters to improve your supervisory abilities. The following definitions of the basic supply terms should help you understand the material in this chapter: CONTROLLED EQUIPAGE—Items requiring special management control because the material is essential to the protection of life or is relatively valuable and can be converted easily for personal use. LOGISTICS—The  science  of  planning  and carrying  out  the  movement  and  maintenance  of military forces. In its most comprehensive sense, logistics involve those aspects of military operations that deal with the following areas: 1. Design, development, acquisition, storage, movement,  distribution,  maintenance, evacuation, and disposition of material 2. Acquisition,   construction,   maintenance, operation, and disposition of facilities 3. Acquisition and furnishing of services 4. Movement, evacuation, and hospitalization of personnel MATERIAL—All   items   necessary   to   equip, operate, maintain, and support an activity. SUPPLIES—All   items   necessary   to   equip, maintain,  and  operate  a  military  command,  including food,  clothing,  equipment,  arms,  ammunition,  fuel, materials, and machinery of all types. SUPPLY—The   procurement,   distribution, maintenance   (while   in   storage),   and   salvage   of supplies,  including  the  determination  of  the  type  and quality of supplies. SUPPLY  CONTROL—The  process  by  which  an item  of  supply  is  controlled  within  the  supply  system, including requisitioning, receipt, storage, stock control, shipment, disposition, identification, and accounting. MATERIAL IDENTIFICATION Learning Objectives: Recognize the different types of stock   and   control   numbers.   Recall   the   purpose   of cognizance symbols. Recall the purpose of the special material   identification   code.   Recognize   sources   of identifying   material   when   a   stock   number   is   not available.  Recognize  the  uses  of  the  following  supply publications: ML-N, MCRL, MRIL, ASG, and COSAL. What is meant by material identification? Why is it necessary?  What  tools  are  available  for  you  to  use  in identifying   material?   The   problem   of   material identification   is   not   peculiar   to   the   Navy   or   the military. You probably have had occasion to purchase a part for your car or an appliance or to use a mail-order catalog. Those items were all identified by a catalog or part number as part of the manufacturer’s or supplier’s identification system. Companies use an identification system for the same reason the Navy does. It is a brief, accurate  means  of  identifying  one  specific  item  of material. Each company develops a system to meet its own needs. The Department of Defense (DoD) supply system stocks  over  4  million  items.  The  Navy  supply  system alone stocks over 1 million items. Because of that, the federal  catalog  system  was  developed.  It  ensures  the proper  requisitioning  of  items  from  either  an  activity ashore  or  from  a  unit  of  the  mobile  logistics  support force. 7-1