. Responsible senior enlisted personnel are positioned to observe the flow of material and watch for possible material loss. The most experienced personnel should be placed at possible bottlenecks and in areas normally associated with the receipt of sensitive items such as pilferable, hazardous, and classified material. Personnel should not be allowed to begin receipt processing under any conditions that encourage carelessness. When necessary, material receipt can be processed upon completion of the replenishment and after stores are located in secure spaces. TYPES OF STORES ANTICIPATED.— The number of receiving stations that must be manned depends largely on the amount and types of stores anticipated. Normally 2 or 3 days before the scheduled replenishment, the transferring ship notifies the receiving ship as to the nature and amount of stores to be transferred. The figures given are, in most cases, rough estimates that can be used for planning purposes. A safe rule of thumb is to plan for a one-third excess over the tonnage expected, and planners should assume that at least some of every category of material will be received. A replenishment plan must be flexible to make sure that its use is not destroyed by sudden, unexpected changes in quantities and type of stores received. Personnel must be available to handle all types of material at one time. It is especially important to know the quantity and type of dangerous and semisafe material to be received. Adequate flammable storage space must be available to accommodate such material. Special procedures should be established so that this type of material can be taken directly from the receiving station to the paint or flammable storerooms and not be allowed to accumulate on deck. Each type of stores received is handled in a different manner and should be directed to different storage locations. Plans for the replenishment must include the consideration of peculiar characteristics of all types of incoming stores. Some of the most important aspects of handling each category of material are discussed in the following paragraphs. Aviation Stores.— Aviation material received during UNREP normally involves several different small items packed together in large boxes at the shipping point. Shipping containers obviously containing only one item need not be opened, but are directed to the proper staging area or storeroom at once. Items shipped as multipacks should be opened, checked, sorted, and forwarded to storerooms (or special receiving areas) as soon as possible. Normally, it is not advisable to move multipacks into storerooms simply to save time in clearing the deck. The AK in charge of flight clothing should be on hand during the sorting to take charge of his or her material. Sorting and checking of aviation stores should be performed where manual handling can be minimized, and where the necessarily slower activity does not interfere with the rest of the replenishment operations. Debris from breaking open boxes should be cleared at once and disposed of according to local instructions. General Stores.— General stores received during UNREP include bulky materials such as rags, toilet paper, brooms, swabs, and paint. Many of these items are difficult to handle with mechanical equipment. Sorting and checking of this type of material should be done under the supervision of a senior Storekeeper. Dry Provisions.— Dry provisions represent a large portion of any replenishment. This category of material is the easiest to handle and sort. Most of these items are shipped in sturdy fiberboard cartons that are designed to move on conveyors easily and stack neatly on pallets. They are normally light enough to be handled by one person. Checking and sorting of this type material is required in all cases by senior Mess Management Specialists. Particular care must be exercised in handling items in bags such as flour and sugar. Fresh Provisions. —Fresh provisions are somewhat difficult to handle and to move to the reefers. This is particularly true on ships where reefers are located in areas where access is difficult. The process of moving fresh provisions below decks can become bogged down and create a bottleneck. Qualified personnel from the medical department should be on hand to inspect fresh produce and survey fruits and vegetables that did not pass inspection. Mess Management Specialists should be stationed in such places as necessary to detect spoiled produce and save manhours used in handling the commodities. Frozen Provisions.— The most important requirement when moving frozen provisions is speed. Frozen products must be moved into the freezer immediately upon receipt. When the ship is operating in hot climates, the steel decks become very hot and frozen items thaw rapidly (partially or completely) and make them unsafe for consumption. Checking and sorting of this type receipt should be done by Mess Management Specialists. 3-15