influence others, so you must always exhibit a
strong sense of personal integrity and dedication
to your work and to the Navy.
The most challenging task you will have is
adjusting to your role as a supervisor. Now is the
time to start preparing yourself for the job
ahead. Prior knowledge of both professional and
administrative duties will put you ahead. Proper
training and diligent study will prove itself
beneficial when you are called upon to lead others.
To help you prepare for the job ahead, we
will acquaint you with some of the common
administrative and professional duties and
responsibilities of an EA3. We will not attempt,
however, to discuss the basic techniques of
leadership; they are adequately covered in Military
Requirements for Petty Officer Third Class,
NAVEDTRA 10044, and Military Requirements
for Petty Officer Second Class, NAVEDTRA
10045 (latest revisions). You need to carefully
review those basic leadership techniques and apply
them, where applicable, in all phases of your job.
Also, in this section, you will learn to recognize
the scope of other general duties and responsi-
bilities associated with an EA3 in a typical
SEABEE billet or assignment.
Several other administrative duties and
responsibilities that you, as an EA3, may be
exposed to or tasked with in your current
assignment may be that of an EA2 or higher. You
will notice that this section, for the most
part, will discuss only your duties as outlined
in the current EA3 occupational standards.
ASSIGNMENT AS TEAM LEADER
Normally, assignment as team, party, or crew
leader is awarded to you at the EA2 level.
However, in some cases in which you hold
seniority in years over the rest of the junior
personnel assigned to your team or section, you
will be called upon to perform EA2 duties and
occupy a position of higher responsibility. EA3
supervisory roles have been, at most times,
assignments as party chief of a survey crew or a
drafting room supervisor.
In general, your duties as a crew leader
or party chief will involve planning work
assignments, supervising, coordinating your
work with the work of other teams, initiating
requisitions, and keeping time cards. Information
that will aid you in carrying out these duties is
given below.
Planning Work Assignments
Proper planning saves time, effort, and money
for the Navy and makes the job easier for all
concerned parties. The following pointers will help
you in planning day-to-day work assignments.
UNDERSTAND THE TASK CLEARLY.—
When you are assigned a task, whether in writing
or orally, the first thing you should do is make
sure you fully understand just what is to be
accomplished. Don’t be afraid to ask questions.
Find out the answers from those in a position to
supply the information you need. Make sure you
know the priority of the project, required time
of completion, and any special instructions that
must be followed. When the task is assigned
orally, take detailed notes. Don’t leave anything
to memory; you might forget important informa-
tion or instructions. A good supervisor carries a
notebook at all times.
KNOW THE CAPABILITY OF YOUR
CREW.— You should always consider the
capability of your crew when planning for the
accomplishment of each assigned task. With this
in mind, you can determine who is to do what and
how long it should take to finish the job. Realizing
that idleness tends to breed boredom and
discontent, plan to have another job ready to start
as soon as the first one is finished.
ESTABLISH DAILY GOALS.— Each work-
day, encourage your crew to work together as a
team to accomplish these goals. You want your
goals to be such that your crew will be kept busy,
but make sure they are “realistic” goals. During
a contingency, people will make a tremendous
effort to meet the deadline. But these people are
not machines. When there is no anticipated
urgency, they cannot be expected to continuously
achieve an excessively high rate of production. In
your planning, you should allow for those
things that do not contribute directly to the
accomplishment of the assigned task, such as
in-house technical training, safety stand-down and
other administrative matters.
SELECT PROPER METHODS, EQUIP-
MENT, AND SUPPLIES.— When you are plan-
ning an assigned task, you should consider every
possible method that could be used to accomplish
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