Chapter 17 — ADMINISTRATION, PUBLICATIONS, AND SUPPLY 



It is necessary for the Aerographer's Mates 

 3 and 2 to have at least a basic knowledge of 

 NSA and APA material, National Stock Numbers, 

 NSN Operating Budgets (OB), Operating Targets 

 (OPTARS), obligations, inventory, and surveys. 



Navy Stock Account (NSA) 



The NSA. comprises all material purchased 

 with capital from the Naval Stock Fund (NSF) 

 and held in store awaiting issue. 



When activities requisition NSA items, the 

 cost of the items is deducted from the activity's 

 applicable quarterly OP TAR, and this amount 

 is credited to NSF. This creates a revolving 

 cycle of purchasing, storing, and issuing of 

 material which keeps the combined assets of 

 NSF and NSA at a constant level. 



Stock numbers prefixed by odd numeric 

 designators are NSA items. 



Appropriation Purchases 

 Account (APA) 



APA consists of material which has been 

 procured and paid for out of funds taken from 

 the annual appropriations and held in store 

 awaiting issue. Issues of APA items are NOT 

 chargeable against any local OB or OPTAR. 



To determine the amount of money the Navy 

 requests Congress to appropriate, each Sys- 

 tems Command in the Navy estimates from 

 past usage data the amount of certain materials 

 that will be needed to operate for the succeed- 

 ing year. For example, Naval Air Systems 

 Command knows how many 100 -gram pilot bal- 

 loons the Naval Weather Service normally uses. 

 They will request, in the appropriation, enough 

 money to procure the succeeding year's supply 

 of 100 -gram balloons. 



by even numeric 



Stock numbers prefixed 

 designators are APA items. 



OPERATING BUDGETS AND 

 OPERATING TARGETS 

 (OB/OPTARS) 



Under the Financial Management of Resources 

 program (RMS) effective 1 July 1968, the De- 

 partment of Defense has determined that manage- 

 ment will be improved if the financing of an 

 activity is related to the total cost of the task 



or mission assigned, and if the costs are rec- 

 ognized and recorded against the budget at 

 the time they occur instead of when they are 

 ordered or paid. 



The following sections explain the operating 

 budget and the operating target (OPTAR). 



Operating Budget 



An operating budget is the annual budget of 

 an activity. This budget contains estimates of 

 the total value of all resources required for the 

 performance of its mission, including reim- 

 bursable work or services for others. For 

 example, NAVWEASERVFAC Pensacola is re- 

 quired to submit an operating budget that will 

 include funds to support the various detachments 

 under its command. 



Operating Target 



A NAVWEASERV commanding officer may 

 establish an operating target (OPTAR) for a 

 subordinate unit. This unit is then authorized 

 to cite the commanding officer's expense op- 

 erating budget to finance its requirements. For 

 example, NAVWEASERVFAC Pensacola estab- 

 lishes an OPTAR for NWSED Memphis. 



It is mandatory that auditable records be 

 maintained by the OPTAR holder which show 

 the value of transactions incurred and the re- 

 maining available funds of the OPTAR. 



Normally at shore stations, most operating 

 expenses and supplies are paid for out of the 

 weather unit's OPTAR except for major equip- 

 ments and maintenance of spaces which are 

 paid for by the host command. Aboard ship, 

 most expenses and supplies are paid for out 

 of the funds allocated to the division from the 

 ship's OPTAR, which derive from the type 

 commander's operating budget. 



MATERIAL IDENTIFICATION 



As a primary signatory to NATO Standardiza- 

 tion Agreements, the United States has adopted 

 the NATO stock-numbering system. The catalog- 

 ing system developed by the Department of De- 

 fense is such that it identifies with one stock 

 number any item of supply that is carried in 

 any or all governmental agencies of NATO. 

 In the procurement of material it is normally 



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