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Navy Supply Corps (United States)
Encyclopedia
The Supply Corps of the United States Navy
traces its beginnings to February 23, 1795 when the nation's first Purveyor of Public Supplies, Tench Francis, Jr., was appointed by President George Washington
. The Supply Corps is one of the oldest staff corps in the U.S. Navy. Supply Corps officers are concerned with supply, logistics, combat support, readiness, contracting and fiscal issues. The official motto of the Supply Corps is "Ready for Sea" - reflecting the Supply Corps' longstanding role in sustaining warfighting.
Commissioned officers in the Supply Corps are schooled and experienced in a variety of disciplines such as supply management and expeditionary logistics, inventory control, disbursement, financial management, contracting, information systems, operations analysis, material and operational logistics, fuels management, food service and physical distribution.
Supply Corps officers can be members of a ship or shore activity's supply department or can be billeted into supply units/commands - such as the Navy Expeditionary Logistics Support Group (NAVELSG), Fleet Industrial Supply Centers (FISCs) or Navy Special Warfare (SPECWAR) Logistics Groups which support the United States Navy SEALs
. While Supply Corps officers are not eligible for command at sea, which is the province of certain unrestricted line officers, they can command supply units. A Supply Corps officer is always the Commanding Officer of a Naval Cargo Handling Battalion - groups charged with stevedoring
and logistics
whose constituent companies are led by both Supply Corps and Civil Engineer Corps
officers. Supply Corps officers also serve in forward deployed land-based units - such as the Seabee
s - working alongside Civil Engineer Corps officers and in a joint capacity with Marine Corps
.
New Supply Corps junior officers attend the Navy Supply Corps School
(NSCS) in Newport, RI.
NSCS was first opened as the Navy Supply Corps School of Application in 1921, located at the Navy Department in Washington, D.C.
After just three years the school was closed, and for the next ten years supply officers learned their profession on the job, at sea from senior supply officers and through formal, but independent coursework.
A more formal arrangement was achieved when the Naval Finance and Supply School was opened at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard
in September 1934, for instruction of regular Navy Supply Corps officers. The training of reserve officers did not become available until 1940, when the Supply Corps Naval Reserve Officers School was established in Washington, D.C. After ten months the two schools were merged, creating the Navy Supply Corps School, located at the Harvard Business School
in Cambridge, Massachusetts
.
During U.S. involvement in World War II, 13,000 officers graduated from NSCS at Harvard. In 1944, the Naval Supply Operational Training Center was established at the Naval Supply Depot in Bayonne, New Jersey
. It was redesignated the Navy Supply Corps School in 1946, but within a few years it outgrew its facilities. Through the efforts of two Georgia politicians, U.S. Senator
Richard B. Russell Jr. and U.S. Representative
Carl Vinson
, the school was moved to Athens, Georgia
in 1954.
The 2005 Base Realignment and Closure
round determined that NSCS will be relocated to Naval Station Newport
, Rhode Island
in 2011.
Officers must complete a personal qualification standard (PQS) program, demonstrate an extensive practical and applied knowledge of the specialty, and successfully stand before an oral examination board of senior officers to earn each warfare pin.
Earning a warfare qualification is often a prerequisite for promotion to senior officer ranks of Commander (O-5) and higher. A Supply Corps officer's future career promotion and assignment prospects can be negatively impacted if he/she served at an operational unit or on board a ship, but failed to earn a warfare pin.
Current Navy policy dictates that Supply Officers complete two operational tours and obtain a warfare pin for consideration for Lieutenant Commander (O-4) boards.
Enlisted ratings that comprise the Navy supply community are: SHs (Ship's Servicemen), who assist Supply Officers in managing shipboard retail and service activities; LSs (ogistic Specialists), who assist Supply Officers in managing inventories of parts, supplies and mail; PSs (Personnel Specialists, a recent merger of the former Disbursing Clerk (DK) and Personnelman (PN) ratings), who assist with the disbursement of funds; CSs (Culinary Specialists, formerly known as Mess Management Specialists (MSs)), who manage and execute all food service operations. In October, 2009, Active Duty Storekeepers and Postal Clerks will be merged to be Logistics Specialists (LS).
The Navy Supply Corps Museum is located at the Supply Corps School in the historic Carnegie Library Building
in Athens, Georgia.
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
traces its beginnings to February 23, 1795 when the nation's first Purveyor of Public Supplies, Tench Francis, Jr., was appointed by President George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
. The Supply Corps is one of the oldest staff corps in the U.S. Navy. Supply Corps officers are concerned with supply, logistics, combat support, readiness, contracting and fiscal issues. The official motto of the Supply Corps is "Ready for Sea" - reflecting the Supply Corps' longstanding role in sustaining warfighting.
Commissioned officers in the Supply Corps are schooled and experienced in a variety of disciplines such as supply management and expeditionary logistics, inventory control, disbursement, financial management, contracting, information systems, operations analysis, material and operational logistics, fuels management, food service and physical distribution.
Supply Corps officers can be members of a ship or shore activity's supply department or can be billeted into supply units/commands - such as the Navy Expeditionary Logistics Support Group (NAVELSG), Fleet Industrial Supply Centers (FISCs) or Navy Special Warfare (SPECWAR) Logistics Groups which support the United States Navy SEALs
United States Navy SEALs
The United States Navy's Sea, Air and Land Teams, commonly known as Navy SEALs, are the U.S. Navy's principal special operations force and a part of the Naval Special Warfare Command as well as the maritime component of the United States Special Operations Command.The acronym is derived from their...
. While Supply Corps officers are not eligible for command at sea, which is the province of certain unrestricted line officers, they can command supply units. A Supply Corps officer is always the Commanding Officer of a Naval Cargo Handling Battalion - groups charged with stevedoring
Stevedore
Stevedore, dockworker, docker, dock labourer, wharfie and longshoreman can have various waterfront-related meanings concerning loading and unloading ships, according to place and country....
and logistics
Military logistics
Military logistics is the discipline of planning and carrying out the movement and maintenance of military forces. In its most comprehensive sense, it is those aspects or military operations that deal with:...
whose constituent companies are led by both Supply Corps and Civil Engineer Corps
Civil Engineer Corps
The Civil Engineer Corps is a staff corps of the United States Navy. CEC officers are professional engineers and architects, acquisitions specialists and Seabee Combat Warfare Officers. They are responsible for executing and managing the planning, design, acquisition, construction, operation, and...
officers. Supply Corps officers also serve in forward deployed land-based units - such as the Seabee
Seabee
Seabees are members of the United States Navy construction battalions. The word Seabee is a proper noun that comes from the initials of Construction Battalion, of the United States Navy...
s - working alongside Civil Engineer Corps officers and in a joint capacity with Marine Corps
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
.
Navy Supply Corps School
Navy Supply Corps School (Athens, Georgia)
New Supply Corps junior officers attend the Navy Supply Corps School in Athens, Georgia.NSCS occupies a campus with a lengthy history. The site had been used as a school since the 1860s, first for the University of Georgia's University High School, then as a Confederate military school, and at...
(NSCS) in Newport, RI.
NSCS was first opened as the Navy Supply Corps School of Application in 1921, located at the Navy Department in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
After just three years the school was closed, and for the next ten years supply officers learned their profession on the job, at sea from senior supply officers and through formal, but independent coursework.
A more formal arrangement was achieved when the Naval Finance and Supply School was opened at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard
Philadelphia Naval Shipyard
The Philadelphia Naval Business Center, formerly known as the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard and Philadelphia Navy Yard, was the first naval shipyard of the United States. The U.S. Navy reduced its activities there in the 1990s, and ended most of them on September 30, 1995...
in September 1934, for instruction of regular Navy Supply Corps officers. The training of reserve officers did not become available until 1940, when the Supply Corps Naval Reserve Officers School was established in Washington, D.C. After ten months the two schools were merged, creating the Navy Supply Corps School, located at the Harvard Business School
Harvard Business School
Harvard Business School is the graduate business school of Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts, United States and is widely recognized as one of the top business schools in the world. The school offers the world's largest full-time MBA program, doctoral programs, and many executive...
in Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
.
During U.S. involvement in World War II, 13,000 officers graduated from NSCS at Harvard. In 1944, the Naval Supply Operational Training Center was established at the Naval Supply Depot in Bayonne, New Jersey
Bayonne, New Jersey
Bayonne is a city in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. Located in the Gateway Region, Bayonne is a peninsula that is situated between Newark Bay to the west, the Kill van Kull to the south, and New York Bay to the east...
. It was redesignated the Navy Supply Corps School in 1946, but within a few years it outgrew its facilities. Through the efforts of two Georgia politicians, U.S. Senator
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
Richard B. Russell Jr. and U.S. Representative
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
Carl Vinson
Carl Vinson
Carl Vinson was a United States Representative from Georgia. He was a Democrat and the first person to serve for more than 50 years in the United States House of Representatives...
, the school was moved to Athens, Georgia
Athens, Georgia
Athens-Clarke County is a consolidated city–county in U.S. state of Georgia, in the northeastern part of the state, comprising the former City of Athens proper and Clarke County. The University of Georgia is located in this college town and is responsible for the initial growth of the city...
in 1954.
The 2005 Base Realignment and Closure
Base Realignment and Closure, 2005
The preliminary 2005 Base Realignment and Closure list was released by the United States Department of Defense on May 13, 2005. It is the fifth Base Realignment and Closure proposal generated since the process was created in 1988. It recommends closing 33 major United States military bases and...
round determined that NSCS will be relocated to Naval Station Newport
Naval Station Newport
The Naval Station Newport is a United States Navy base located in the towns of Newport and Middletown, Rhode Island. Naval Station Newport is home to the Naval War College and the Naval Justice School...
, Rhode Island
Rhode Island
The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...
in 2011.
Professional qualifications
Supply Corps officers can earn one or more of four community warfare insignias:- The Surface Warfare Supply Corps Officer (SWSCO) pin for supply officers serving on board a ship
- The Submarine Supply Officer pinSubmarine Supply Corps insigniaThe Submarine Supply Corps Insignia is a badge of the United States Navy which is awarded to members of the Navy Supply Corps who have qualified as Supply Officers on board U.S. submarines...
for supply officers serving on Independent Duty as the SUPPO on a sub - The Naval Aviation Supply Officer (NASO) pinNaval Aviation Supply Corps insigniaThe Naval Aviation Supply Corps insignia is a military badge of the United States Navy which is awarded to Naval Aviation Supply Officers of the Navy Supply Corps who have qualified for duties as a Supply Officer in support of naval aviation and are also qualified to serve in duty assignments...
for supply corps officers serving onboard a Carrier/Amphib or at a Naval Air Station (NAS) Aviation Supply Detachment (ASD) - The Seabee Combat Warfare Officer insignia for supply officers assigned to a Navy Construction Battalion NCB/NMCB units.
Officers must complete a personal qualification standard (PQS) program, demonstrate an extensive practical and applied knowledge of the specialty, and successfully stand before an oral examination board of senior officers to earn each warfare pin.
Earning a warfare qualification is often a prerequisite for promotion to senior officer ranks of Commander (O-5) and higher. A Supply Corps officer's future career promotion and assignment prospects can be negatively impacted if he/she served at an operational unit or on board a ship, but failed to earn a warfare pin.
Current Navy policy dictates that Supply Officers complete two operational tours and obtain a warfare pin for consideration for Lieutenant Commander (O-4) boards.
Additional information
Supply Corps officers are sometimes called "SUPPO," although this term is the billet of Supply Officer which is the supply department head and senior Supply Corps officer of a command. Other nicknames include "Pork Chop" (due to the shape of the Supply Corps staff insignia). Aboard submarines, the Supply Officer is called "Chop". While "Supply Officer" is a specific billet which an officer may fill, there are also many other positions open to Supply Corps officers as this is an inherently multi-disciplinary career field. These include: ASUPPO, or Assistant Supply Officer; FSO, or Food Service Officer; Sales Officer; DISBO, or Disbursing Officer. At larger commands, sometimes Hazardous Materials Officer, Postal Officer, and Wardroom Officer are primary billets for Supply Corps officers vice being collateral duties at smaller commands.Enlisted ratings that comprise the Navy supply community are: SHs (Ship's Servicemen), who assist Supply Officers in managing shipboard retail and service activities; LSs (ogistic Specialists), who assist Supply Officers in managing inventories of parts, supplies and mail; PSs (Personnel Specialists, a recent merger of the former Disbursing Clerk (DK) and Personnelman (PN) ratings), who assist with the disbursement of funds; CSs (Culinary Specialists, formerly known as Mess Management Specialists (MSs)), who manage and execute all food service operations. In October, 2009, Active Duty Storekeepers and Postal Clerks will be merged to be Logistics Specialists (LS).
The Navy Supply Corps Museum is located at the Supply Corps School in the historic Carnegie Library Building
Carnegie Library Building (Athens, Georgia)
The Carnegie Library Building is an historic building on the base of the Naval Supply Corps School in Athens, Georgia. It was one of many such libraries donated by Andrew Carnegie which were named Carnegie Library after him. It was built in 1900 on the site of the state Normal School. On November...
in Athens, Georgia.
Navy Supply Corps leadership
The following have headed the Supply Corps Officer and Enlisted Community:- Rear AdmiralRear admiral (United States)Rear admiral is a naval commissioned officer rank above that of a commodore and captain, and below that of a vice admiral. The uniformed services of the United States are unique in having two grades of rear admirals.- Rear admiral :...
Mike Lyden 2008-2011 - Rear Admiral Mark Heinrich 2011-current
Advancement
Three stars (Vice-Admiral) is the highest rank a Supply Corps officer in the U.S. Navy can attain. There have been 18 Supply Corps Officers advanced to that rank: William J. Carter, E. G. Morsell, Edwin Dorsey Foster, Charles W. Fox, Murrey L. Royar, A. A. Antrim, Stephen R. Edson, Robert F. Batchelder, Joseph M. Lyle, Kenneth R. Wheeler, George E. Moore II, Vincent A. Lascara, Eugene A. Grinstead, Little Eddie Straw, Keith W. Lippert, Justin D. McCarthy, Alan S. Thompson and Mark Harnitchek.Notable U.S. Navy Supply Corps officers
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