Free Custom «Aspects of Army Command Supply» Essay Paper

The sustenance of supply discipline and maintenance of accuracy in accounting for property relies significantly on inventories; therefore, these are instruments that are critical to commanders in the execution of their duties and responsibilities. Change of command, sensitive and annual items are critical inventories that should be conducted for efficient supply discipline. Tracking of assigned properties by commanders is significant to their understanding and differentiating inventory types while conducting them as required. In the event of a change of the hand receipt holder, change of inventory command is effected. Both the incumbent and outgoing hand receipt holder will inventory all property listed on hand receipts. The inventory period is stipulated as thirty days. However, in the event that the inventory cannot be completed within this time frame, an extension is requested in writing to the supervisor or higher commander.

The enhancement of supply discipline and correction of errors is aided by meticulous changes in command inventories. While, in the process of performing inventories, commanders should identify means of reducing and mitigating excess and shortage of inventories. When property is not code-authorized, then the commander should take the quantity at hand as the authorized quantity (Rawlings, “Establishing Command Supply Discipline after Deployment”). Annual inventories represent the aggregate property that has been assigned to the army. Therefore, the responsible personnel should ensure that inventories are conducted in accordance with stipulated army regulations. Annual inventory is conducted in respect to the annual officer inventory. Therefore, ten percent is conducted monthly, twenty five percent quarterly and fifty percent semi annually.

 

Type of service

Type of assignment

Title of your paper *

Academic level

Pages

Timeframe

Spacing

Currency

  Order now

These enable commanders to identify and correct discrepancies in-time leading to the preservation of supply discipline and accuracy in accountability. However, items regarded as unclassified controlled cryptographic and sensitive items are inventoried quarterly. Ammunition, explosives, firearms and hazardous items are inventoried monthly. It is critical for commanders to present themselves during the conduct of sensitive items inventory despite the designation of personnel to conduct the inventory. Attention to detail is crucial since sensitive items are characterized as the most stressful inventories. The conduct of sensitive items inventory should be on a physical basis by checking item serial numbers where any discrepancies are communicated immediately to the property book officer. This is monumental in the effectiveness and efficiency of supply discipline.

Instances arise when the army support channels are unable to provide the required items or property; therefore, an alternative for property acquisition is sought by issuance of contracts. These are critical when the required property is in need within a time frame in which the military channels cannot meet. Contracts are also critical in the provision of items which are beyond the limit of the government price card. Purchase request are prepared; however, in an effort to prevent ethical violations, commanders are required to understand the criterion for sourcing contracts and situations which warrant their use. The inclusion of contract evaluations in the ACSDP checklist is crucial in keeping commanders informed while averting potential difficulties and problems. Supply discipline maintenance in lieu to contacts is essential to the overall benefit of army units.

Liability

The loss, damage or destruction of government property is subjected to investigations to determine the financial liability. This serves as a support to the adjustment of property from the accounting records. It also provides relief from financial liability or the assessment of charges against an entity or person while documenting the financial liability. When misconduct or negligence is suspected, the responsible officer or the hand receipt holder initiates a financial liability inquiry into the matter. This procedure is applicable in instances where the entity or person refuses to admit liability or when the property in question is a controlled item. This includes cases where an outgoing, responsible officer does not voluntarily pay for the lost army items during a change of responsibilities.

Maintenance Readiness

An actionable maintenance readiness program should be an integral aspect of the supply procedures. The commander should be familiar with these procedures while emphasizing the significance of the establishment and implementation of effective supply procedures in the essential elements of equipment readiness. The critical items, unserviceable items, automatic return items and intensively managed items are returned in the required timeframes to retrograde channels. The analysis, prediction and decision making of commanders are based on information provided in unit readiness reports and materials; hence, the unit's ability to perform their tasks and missions (DA, “Garrison Policy”). The completion of these reports during garrison operations and deployments is critical to their timeliness, accuracy and completeness. The material readiness is characterized by the ability of the assigned equipment and system in accomplishing the designated missions.

Stay Connected

Live Chat Order now

The management of maintenance operations is characterized by the review of reconciliation reports produced by the Army Retail Supply System (SARSS). The monthly review of the reconciliation report should be done to ensure that requisitions have validity in their supply status. The responsible officers are required to ensure validation and reconciliation of open supply requests by customer units on a monthly and quarterly basis (Rawlings, “Establishing Command Supply Discipline after Deployment”). However, unit leaders should review weekly the status of open priority requests. The conduct of the Shop Supply List (SSL) review of demands and adjustments made thereto on the basis of supported requirements should be enforced by the commanders. Avoidance of untimely and improper turn-ins of items is critical to mitigate the loss of allocated funds to units and effects on future spending requirements. Therefore, unit maintenance is enhanced by appropriate supply procedures. The implementation of tools that aid commanders in assessing and checking maintenance readiness and adherence to supply procedures by maintenance personnel is vital in ACSDP.

The understanding of the automated Shop Supply List systems is critical for commanders in the management and performance of their shop supplies. The functionality of these provides the managerial officers with supply information and maintenance processes of the unit level supplies. These systems facilitate enhance of unit readiness and capability in the management of equipment usage while tracking readiness. Therefore, commanders should ascertain that clerks are aware of what repair parts and quantities are authorized per unit. They should ensure that the SSL records agree with the stock quantities on hand and their locations. The commander should ensure that the clerks secure and protect all spare parts while documenting the issue of repair items or parts.

Appropriate turn-in procedures should be used when turning in excess repair parts while ensuring that the designated official or the commander initials the exception report for priority requests. Reconciliation of inventories is critical; therefore, the clerks should ensure that the document register is reconciled with financial transaction listing by the commander and the supporting SSA. It is essential that the commander ensures that clerks are aware of the SSL function interface and the Army Maintenance Management Systems records (Holmes, “CSDP”). The unit’s equipment readiness is characterized by availability of stocks and adequate accountability at the Supply Support Activities. Adequate amounts of supplies for deployment, performance metrics monitoring, inventories and stock reviews are factors of SSAs management which are significant in ACSDP.

Supply Readiness

The authorization for the achievement of highly required items is achieved by commanders for the support of maintaining the required equipment. Authorized Stock Lists are managed through conducting monthly, quarterly and annual routine processes like surveys and inventories. Adequate supplies, timely customer requests, inventory accuracy, receipt processing, and deployment rates are measures of SSA’s ability to sustain Army readiness (Rawlings, “Establishing Command Supply Discipline after Deployment”). The Authorized stock inventories in the SSAs are critical in the prevention of mismanagement of assets while maintaining the accuracy of assets and their availability. These are categorized into three, namely scheduled cyclic, wall to wall and unique inventories. These are requirements applicable in deployment environments and garrisons. The certification of accuracy in recording assigned assets and their locations done by the SSA personnel in order to meet the requirements of critical Authorized Stock Surveys.

The integrated logistics program where dollar costing banding is used represents the dictated method for calculating the stocking of ASL items and demands. This technique enables the commanders and unit logistic officers to analyze demand in determining the deletion or addition of lines and decrease or increase of the adjustments in quantities. The dollar cost banding is a tool for recommendations and an essential program in aiding managers in the creation of the optimum Authorized Stock List for the support of unit readiness and missions. Authorized Stock List reviews aid in the optimization of demand accommodation, demand satisfaction and reduction of customer waiting time for essential supplies.

Administrative supplies, individual equipment, tools and uniforms are subjected to one for one credit policy characterized by exchange pricing as the applicable business process. This also applies to demand and personal items, repair parts as stipulated by the Defense Finance and Accounting Service in the finance and accounting policy implementation. All national stock numbers in exchange pricing are subject to validation and tracking of issues and turn-ins through exchange pricing. The objectives of exchange pricing include the establishment of a buy one return one relationship while eliminating unserviceable credit for significant tactical customers. Capitalization of tactical repairable or repair exchange and direct support SSA inventories are critical.

The issue of serviceable National Stock Number is tracked through the exchange pricing from the date of item acquisition at the SSA to the completion of a serviceable or unserviceable turn-in. This signifies a critical aspect of the exchange pricing policies where an item will have sixty days to turn in to the SSA. The continued use of the current policy by units as stipulated by the Army Material Maintenance policy will provide them with adequate time to meet the sixty day suspense as per the exchange pricing program. This is referred to as the delta delay period. A delta bill is issued in the event that the sixty day suspense period is not met; therefore, the unit is charged with the items full price.

Commanders are required to ensure that under the exchange pricing; turn-ins conform to both the department of defense activity code or NSN to ensure that they conform to the issue as per the delta delay period. All processes must match customer issue in respect the oldest inactive turn-in, condemned turn-in, and the oldest active repairable and condemned turn-ins. The reversal of finances in the event of a denial where a transaction is processed out of the sequence is taken into consideration by the exchange pricing program. However, if there is no matching issue within a year, the unserviceable exchange pricing turn-ins are subject to purging.

Conclusion

An elaborate and effective Army Command Supply Discipline Program is defined by its purpose and facts. Facts are the most critical aspect of ACSDP. The recording, documentation, analyzing and responding to available facts is fundamental to ACSDP. Therefore, in ACSDP facts are presented in the use of hand receipts, delegation of authority, food records and signature cards, review of each unit’s CSDP records and significantly purchase accounts and unit funds. These are the essential aspects of Army Command Supply Discipline Program.