CHAPTER 16
ADMINISTRATION
This chapter is provided to help you prepare
for the “job ahead” and to acquaint you with
your duties and responsibilities as an EA3 in a
typical SEABEE billet. This chapter also discusses
the training requirements and methods of pre-
paring for in-rate advancement and discusses your
role, in general, in the overall organization of the
Naval Construction Force (NCF).
THE ENGINEERING AID RATING
The Engineering Aid rating is a general rating,
as are all others in the Occupational Field 13
ratings. The scope of duties and responsibilities
follows.
SCOPE OF DUTIES AND
RESPONSIBILITIES
Engineering Aids plan, supervise, and perform
tasks required in construction surveying, con-
struction drafting, planning and estimating, and
quality control; prepare progress reports, time
records, construction schedules, and material and
labor estimates; establish and operate a basic
quality control system for testing soils, concrete,
and other construction materials; prepare, edit,
and reproduce construction drawings; and make
and control surveys, performing such tasks as
running and closing traverses, running level
circuits,
staking out construction projects,
and obtaining other field data necessary for
engineering studies or for actual construction of
any type of structure that may come under the
cognizance of the NCF.
IMPORTANCE OF THE EA RATING
The necessity for naval construction need not
be emphasized, and each of the Occupational
Field 13 ratings performs a vital and indispensable
function in naval construction. In one sense,
however, the function of the EA is of special
significance. By merely studying the scope of the
EA’s duties and responsibilities, one can deduce
that the EA’s functions relate to the WHOLE
construction project, rather than to one particular
phase of it. From the project’s conception until
its final completion report, the EA contributes
directly or indirectly towards its completion.
Some of your efforts might not be measurable
in terms of work-in-place; however, they may be
the deciding factor as to the accuracy and quality
of the finished project. Your alertness in com-
piling man-hour expenditures and progress reports
may have alerted the operations officer to see
lagging work schedules. This enables the opera-
tions officer to readjust timetables and priorities
to meet standing completion requirements.
The foregoing are just a few examples of your
support to the mission of the NCF. You will
encounter and learn a majority of your tasks
through on-the-job training (or informal schools).
The specific tasks you perform will depend
upon your particular duty assignments and the
prevailing contingency—operational, logistical, or
both. Some of the various support assignments
that you, as an EA, might encounter are discussed
in later sections.
TYPICAL EA BILLETS
Generally, most of the billets for an EA3 on
sea duty are in the Naval Mobile Construction
Battalion, commonly called the “green machine. ”
This is where most of your skills as an EA will
be put to use, honed, and tested. The experience
you will gather from this type of duty is vast,
provided you take on the challenges of your rate.
For shore duty, assignment to public works
activities is common to an EA3. However, other
types of independent sea, shore, or oversea billets
are available to you. Ask your leading petty
officer (LPO) or your unit career counselor for
additional information.
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