Teeth to Tail Ratio

[flykiller]

he was seriously considering putting In the request, just to see if anyone actually rang up and asked what a comms troop needed with its own personal cargo plane......

sounds like a great start to a traveller adventure.

"ok, one brand new frontier patrol frigate. sign here."

and a merc unit with an inside enlisted man could lay its hands on some impressive gear ....

 

[Enoki]

One of my friends was once looking though the system and realised that their was a NSN (NATO Stock Number) for a complete C-130, and it was described as something rather innocent, like "cargo handling gear, C-130". he was seriously considering putting In the request, just to see if anyone actually rang up and asked what a comms troop needed with its own personal cargo plane......

True story... When the USS Enterprise was in the yards in Bremerton WA in 1980-82 Reactor Electrical division had money left at the end of the year so they were told to spend it. They bought a tank "for testing."

The higher ups assumed some sort of water tank or something. An M60 on a tractor trailer arrived on the pier. They were in the process of trying to bribe a yard worker to load it on #3 elevator when the khaki showed up and put a stop to that...

They got yelled at but didn't get in trouble as too many officers had signed off on the purchase request...

 

[Timerover51]

True story... When the USS Enterprise was in the yards in Bremerton WA in 1980-82 Reactor Electrical division had money left at the end of the year so they were told to spend it. They bought a tank "for testing."

The higher ups assumed some sort of water tank or something. An M60 on a tractor trailer arrived on the pier. They were in the process of trying to bribe a yard worker to load it on #3 elevator when the khaki showed up and put a stop to that...

They got yelled at but didn't get in trouble as too many officers had signed off on the purchase request...

Having been in the Army supply system, I can understand that. One problem is explaining a shortage is quite straightforward, but explaining an overage borders on nightmarish. In my case, I was issued gear by one unit, transferred to another that also issued me the same gear, and when I had to turn in the cold-weather gear when leaving Alaska, the paperwork for explaining the double issue was so much of a headache, that I simply took one set with me. It was nice having my cold-weather parka for some of the winters in Chicago in the 1980s.

 

[Condottiere]

At the end of the budget period, use it or lose it, you can't carry it forward or put it in a contingency fund.

 

[Timerover51]

At the end of the budget period, use it or lose it, you can't carry it forward or put it in a contingency fund.

Unfortunately, that is the way that things work. It is not possible to say more than that without getting into prohibited political posting areas. I did have to deal with that in the Army, and also as a publicly elected official.

 

[BlackBat242]

Having been in the Army supply system, I can understand that. One problem is explaining a shortage is quite straightforward, but explaining an overage borders on nightmarish. In my case, I was issued gear by one unit, transferred to another that also issued me the same gear, and when I had to turn in the cold-weather gear when leaving Alaska, the paperwork for explaining the double issue was so much of a headache, that I simply took one set with me. It was nice having my cold-weather parka for some of the winters in Chicago in the 1980s.

I was issued cold-weather gear in September 1986, when my squadron & Ranger were going to be mucking around the Aleutian Islands - we weren't told to turn it in.

In the last half of 1987, while we were cutting big circles in the water of the Indian Ocean south of Iran, the Air Group my squadron was a part of (MAG-13) moved from MCAS El Toro, Ca to MCAS Yuma, Az - my squadron, the other A-6E squadron, and the C-130 squadron were transferred to MAG-11 at ET - when I was processing out of active duty in June 1989 they had no record of my having been issued said cold-weather gear, so.....

 

[BlackBat242]

And I ran into something that could have possibly got me in trouble. The system I worked on (FLIR turret) required ethyl alcohol to clean the lenses, because isopropyl alcohol would leave a residue.

This was fine at our land base, but aboard ship e/a was a controlled substance (being safely drinkable), and we were supposed to store ours in medical and draw only enough for one use at a time, which had to be documented.

I found the NSN for "alcohol, dehydrated analyzed reagent" (laboratory-grade ethyl alcohol), and since that NSN was not on the controlled list (no one outside of various Navy labs ever ordered it), I was able to order, and keep in our shop aboard Ranger, 4 "unit of issue".

NSN 6505-00-105-0000
unit of issue: pint


I always wondered what would have happened if I had ordered one "Carrier, aircraft, Nimitz type" - yes, I found that there was a NSN for that!

 

[Timerover51]

And I ran into something that could have possibly got me in trouble. The system I worked on (FLIR turret) required ethyl alcohol to clean the lenses, because isopropyl alcohol would leave a residue.

This was fine at our land base, but aboard ship e/a was a controlled substance (being safely drinkable), and we were supposed to store ours in medical and draw only enough for one use at a time, which had to be documented.

I found the NSN for "alcohol, dehydrated analyzed reagent" (laboratory-grade ethyl alcohol), and since that NSN was not on the controlled list (no one outside of various Navy labs ever ordered it), I was able to order, and keep in our shop aboard Ranger, 4 "unit of issue".

NSN 6505-00-105-0000
unit of issue: pint

Although this is supposed to be about teeth-to-tail ratio, the guy I replaced as supply platoon commander had been ordering all sorts of stuff, and then been busy selling it downtown in Anchorage. He did get caught and sentenced to the long course at Leavenworth, but I had the absolutely gorgeous mahogany desk delivered one day to my warehouse, with no receiving unit designated. After talking to Brigade Supply, I think that it ended up replacing good old Stormin Norman's desk.

I always wondered what would have happened if I had ordered one "Carrier, aircraft, Nimitz type" - yes, I found that there was a NSN for that!

You might have raised a few eyebrows with that one, but everything, and I do mean, EVERYTHING, in the supply system has a NATO stock number.

Given the size of the Imperium, the possibilities for someone gaming the supply system boggles the mind.

 

[Condottiere]

I recall that Soviets had problems with cleaning alcohol supplies, needed for their fighter windscreen, and probably areas where that would be desirable, being repurposed.

I would guess the Russians may now be more vigilant.

 

[flykiller]

I recall that Soviets had problems with cleaning alcohol supplies

they also had problems with issued equipment being sold for vodka. soviet air defense units, deployed in pairs for reliability, routinely sold one of their systems for vodka.

 

[Timerover51]

I recall that Soviets had problems with cleaning alcohol supplies, needed for their fighter windscreen, and probably areas where that would be desirable, being repurposed.

I would guess the Russians may now be more vigilant.

The US and World War 2 torpedo alcohol. An awful lot was requisitioned by destroyers and subs, over and above what would be called "reasonable", especially when the subs were carrying electric torpedoes. Also the PT boats should not be forgotten.