CHAPTER 14 TECHNICAL ADMINISTRATION AND SUPERVISION

CHAPTER 14 TECHNICAL ADMINISTRATION AND SUPERVISION The higher you ascend on the enlisted rating ladder, the more valuable you become to the Navy. This is understandable since you have more experience in your rating, have probably attended several Navy schools, and your attitudes are well-oriented to Navy life. In a sense, you are now in a position and better qualified to impart your knowledge and experience to the personnel serving under you. Your bearing, actions, and disposition will be under scrutiny not only by your seniors but also by your subordinates. As a supervising EA1, your job is a many-sided task. It involves the procurement of necessary equipment, repair parts, and other materials; planning, scheduling, and directing work assignments; maintaining an adequate file of appropriate publications; interpreting and complying with current directives; collecting engineering data; making progress reports; carrying on a comprehensive and effective training program; interviewing subordinates, using the Personnel Readiness Capability Program (PRCP) guidelines; and drafting official correspondence. This chapter discusses many of the duties and responsibilities of the EA1 supervisor. These discussions center on those topics that, for the most part, are considered to be unique to the Engineering Aid rating; in other words, those administrative and supervisory topics related specifically to supervising the engineering division and assisting the management division of the operations department in a Naval Mobile Construction Battalion. Obviously, there are many other subjects that relate to the Navy or the Seabees, in general, that you must also be thoroughly familiar with to be an effective supervisor. Those topics, such as leadership principles, principles of administration, correspondence procedures, and so forth, can be found in the Navy’s military requirements books that are required study for advancement in rating. General topics related to the Seabees as a whole, such as the PRCP program, are covered in the NCF/Seabee PO1 training manual (TRAMAN). Some other topics that you should become familiar with, such as facilities maintenance management, project site approval requirements, and special project and military construction (MILCON) project submittal procedures, are also not discussed in this TRAMAN; however, a listing of reference sources concerning these and other topics is contained in appendix IV of this TRAMAN. By now, you should be very familiar with the organization of a Seabee construction battalion and with the battalion’s operations department. Therefore, we will begin our discussion of your responsibilities by first discussing the management division and the ways in which you will be expected to assist the management division. Then we will discuss your duties and responsibilities as they relate to super- vising the engineering division of the operations department. MANAGEMENT DIVISION The management division of the operations department may be headed by the assistant operations officer or by the operations chief, acting in an advisory capacity to the operations officer and the operations staff. This division is sometimes referred to as the administrative division of the operations department. The management division is normally staffed by the operations Yeoman and the timekeeper. Sometimes these positions are filled by EAs. The management division collects, compiles, and analyzes all information related to the construction operations. This information is used in the preparation of construction operations reports, including the Deployment Completion Report, Monthly Situation Report, and any other special reports required by higher authority. The engineering division will be required to assist in the preparation of these reports by supplying technical information concerning construction projects. Some reports may be compiled from existing records; others may require special investigation and research. 14-1