Maintenance/Material Control
Most aircraft squadrons have an allowance for an
AK1. When assigned to the squadron material control,
the first class is the senior supply representative on
board with a variety of duties and responsibilities. On
the other hand, material control in the aircraft
intermediate maintenance department (AIMD) involves
complex operations.
Because the duties are
complicated, most AIMDs have an AKC assigned as the
material control supervisor. This is a challenging billet,
and the manner in which the functions of this billet are
performed directly affects the aviation mission of a ship
or station.
Instructor Billets
The Aviation Storekeeper class A school, located at
Naval Technical Training Center (NTTC) Meridian,
Mississippi, has instructor billets normally filled by
AK2s, AK1s, and AKCS. The Naval Aviation
Maintenance Training Group (NAMTG) has several
billets for AKCs in its detachments who teach Naval
Aviation Maintenance Program (NAMP) supply
procedures. There are additional billets at advanced AK
and Shipboard Uniform Automated Data Processing
System (SUADPS) courses located at Fleet Training
Center, Norfolk, Virginia, and Service School
Command, San Diego, California.
Staff Billets
The term staff is used here to cover several similar
duty assignments, not all of which would be strictly
classified as duty with a staff. It includes the following
activities that usually have billets for the AK1 or AKC:
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Flag administrative units of the air type
commanders and the air training commanders
Flag administrative units of fleet air commanders
Staff of fleet air wings and carrier air groups
Defense Accounting Office, Norfolk and San
Diego
Headquarters, Naval Supply Systems Command
Naval missions, naval attaches, and military
assistance advisory groups (MAAGs)
KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS
A major concern of personnel management is the
assignment of personnel to jobs they are capable of
doing and are interested in performing. This involves
recognizing that individuals use a basic knowledge,
skill, or ability in performing each task and that each
persons capabilities should be fully used. In dealing
with these dynamic aspects of an organization, you are
not expected to be a management engineer. However,
as a senior petty officer, you should be able to exercise
your leadership responsibilities in dealing capably with
human relations. In this sense, leadership can be
defined as the capacity to direct or influence the
behavior of others toward specific goals. In carrying out
this mission, you are not only responsible for the
assignment of duties and the delegation of authority, you
must also see that the work is done. This requires certain
knowledge and skills.
The following paragraphs
contain information about the knowledge and skills
required of you as a supervisor and manager.
Knowledge
Successful supervision demands a vast amount of
knowledge. The wide variety and complexity of
assignments require the supervisor to have considerable
technical knowledge. Most senior AKs have acquired
knowledge through experience, on-the-job training, or
by reading instructions and procedures. It is inevitable,
however, that supervisors will be given some tasks for
which their training and experience are inadequate. In
these situations supervisors must be dependent upon the
knowledge and abilities of others, and upon their own
leadership.
You as the supervisor must know the mission of the
organization of which you are a part. With this
knowledge, you can set objectives to fully support the
mission. You also need to have a clear understanding of
the specific role your group must play in attaining the
basic goals. Planning, organization, directing, and
problem solving should be done with both the general
and specific aims of the organization clearly in mind.
Few traits are of more importance in a successful
supervisor than a thorough knowledge of the
subordinates as individuals. The supervisor needs to be
aware constantly of the fact that individuals are different
and that this fact cannot be overlooked. It is particularly
dangerous for a supervisor to fall into the habit of
stereotyping people.
Skills
As the supervisor, the biggest part of your
responsibilities will be guiding and directing others as
they perform their assigned tasks. Your value to the
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