Keeping Count of Your Platoon

Introduction So, you are going to be a platoon leader. Soon, you will be signing for millions of dollars worth of equipment. Every so often, unconcerned platoon leaders generously contribute portions of their hard-earned income for the good of the service. If you consider yourself a philanthropist and are independently wealthy, then stop here. On the other hand, if you enjoy your butter and want silver in eighteen months, then the following suggestions, which soon-to-be company commanders have compiled from lessons learned, will prove helpful. The information provided here is not necessarily inclusive, but is a condensation of the overall unit supply process as it encompasses platoon accountability procedures. Prior to arriving at your unit, you should take the time to assimilate the information provided below. And, if time permits, review all references made to the Supply Update and the Maintenance Update. You can find these publications in your company and also at the MOS library. Responsibility - Your commander is the primary hand receipt holder for all unit property and exercises command responsibility. His representative in maintaining the hand receipt is the supply sergeant. Most units also have the XO as the supply officer to assist the commander in more closely monitoring routine supply transactions. The commander’s hand receipt consists of all nonexpendable property authorized to his unit under current MTOE, TDA, and CTA (for definition of acronyms see “Consolidated Glossary” in your latest Supply Update). You can identify all nonexpendable property by aline number, which is a alphanumeric code used by the computer to refer to a specific piece of property (e.g. E94356). The PBO (Property Book Officer) updates the commander’s hand receipt monthly. The hand receipt is a computer printout listing all assigned property alpha-numerically, by line number. In order to maintain proper accountability, most commanders will attempt to sub-hand receipt all unit property dawn to the primary user level to delegate supervisory responsibility over sub-hand receipted property as an extra safeguard. Therefore, you are only indirectly responsible for all property sub-hand receipted to you from the commander, assuming that you, in turn, complete the process and ensure that all property is sub-hand receipted to the primary users, who of course, are your vehicle commanders. And that is the key: if you always ensure that you maintain accountability by conducting: inventories prior to the old vehicle commander departing your unit, soon after returning from field problems, and before your semiannual updating of your sub-hand receipt, you will never have to forfeit any of your hard-earned income. While that sounds so simple, one must remember that Murphy’s Law is constantly in force, always providing the opportunity to gum up accountability. Furthermore, not everyone has concerned commanders who routinely do their 10 percent monthly inventory; supply sergeants who conscientiously do their review and posting; or platoon leaders who adhere to sound quality-control standards during inventories. Supply Forms Form management plays an important role in property accountability. Therefore, let’s discuss some forms used by supply that affect your sub-hand receipt. The supply room normally keeps your sub-hand receipt on a DA Form 2062. The supply sergeant makes two copies of each sub-hand receipt, retains the original, and gives the carbon to the sub-hand receipt holder. It should look something like figures 5-1 and 5-2 of DA Pam 710-2-1 (see Supply Update). Other forms that affect your sub-hand receipt and that should be kept with it are in Figure 1. Commonly co-located with your, sub-hand receipt is the hand receipt annex (see figure 6-1 of DA Pam 710-2-1 for example). This form, often called a “shortage annex,” shows all components that aremiss-ing from an end item in your sub-hand receipt and are currently on order. The initials at the end of column A-F will usually be those of the supply sergeant. Those initials are his verification that all items listed above it are on valid requisition. You can double-check this by looking at the Due-In listing for that item. When you find it, a good practice is to pencil in the Document Number (or Requisition Number) in column b following the item description. This will help you monitor the arrival of that item when you do your weekly review of the Due-In listing. When you no longer see the item listed there, it has arrived and will either be in the supply room or needs to be picked up by the supply sergeant at the supply yard or warehouse (Read para 6-1 of DA Pam 710-2-1). Another form usually kept with your sub-hand receipt is a change document on a DA Form 3161 (see figure 5-3 of DA Pam 710-2-1 for example). The supply sergeant uses this form to record supply transactions that affect a hand or sub-hand receipt. He uses it to record issue and turn-in transactions between hand receipt holder and sub-hand receipt holder in lieu of posting changes to the sub-hand receipt on DA Form 2062. Most supply 22

Typical Documents Found in A Sub-hand Receipt Sub-hand Receipt Hand Receipt Annex Change Document Change Document DA Form 2062 DA Form 2062 DA Form 31 61 DA Form 31 61 Figure 1 sergeants like to do this because sub-hand receipts are supposed to be typed and typing takes time that supply sergeants usually don’t have. The forms just discussed are basic forms used by the supply sergeant to maintain accountability. Other forms of which you need to have a working knowledge are:

1. DA Form 2062, Component Hand Receipt (see figure 6-1 and 6-2 of DA Pam 710-2-1). You will use this form as your sub-hand receipt to the primary user; it contains a listing of all basic issue items (BII), mandatory components, and any additional authorized items (AAL) described in the publication for that end item (Read para 6-2 of DA Pam 710-2-1).

2. DA Form 2402, Direct Exchange Tag (see figure 3-2 of DA Pam 738-750 in the Maintenance Update). This form has several different uses. You should attach it to all items turned in to supply or PLL. If you cannot get a one-for-one direct exchange, ask for a signature in block 14, and record the Julian date in block 13; retain Copy 1 for your records.

3. DA Form 1131, Cash Collection Voucher (see figure 2-1 of AFt 735-11 in the Supply Update). We use this form when an individual admits pecuniary liability for an item that does not exceed $100 in cost. This allows the soldier to go to the SSSC (Self Service Supply Center) and pick up the item, provided he has a DF authorization as de-of ammunition, your support platoon leader and the S4 shop are the sources on how to use DA Form 2062 to maintain ammunition accountability. The most important point to remember is to make sure your ammunition’slot numbers are visible and that records are kept by round tvDe and lot numbers.) I * scribed in AR 735-1 1, para 2-3, sub- D a r a d(3). (This Drocess is illus-Reviewing Supply irated in Figure ‘3 by the arrow showing the supply sergeant going to the SSSC for a class 2 durable item.) This action provides faster acquisition of the item.

4. DA Form 362, Statement of Charges (see figure 2-2 of AR 735- 11). If the item is not stocked or sold at the SSSC, then use this form for the person who has admitted pecuniary liability for an item.

5. DA Form 4697, Report of Survey (see figure 3-1 of AR 735-11). This form is used when you or the commander decide that property has been lost, damaged, or destroyed because of fault or neglect by one or more of the unit’s personnel. (NOTE: For those of you who are in units that are authorized stockage of a uniform basic load (UBL) Operations Another important point to consider in preparing to sign for your platoon is, “HOW important is supply to my commander?” You can assess this by visiting the supply room and talking with the XO. When you visit the supply room look to see how well it is managed by considering these points: 0 Is the supply room neat, clean, and functionally organized? How much interruption is the supply sergeant receiving? Is the supply sergeant constantly being interrupted? Has your sub-hand receipt been updated at least semiannu-ally? Does your sub-hand receipt have the documents listed in figure l? Platoon Sub-hand Receipt Notebook C vehicle component sub-hand receipta C hand receipt annex + your sub-hand receipt (copy) +change document (turn-in) change document (issue) c DX tags stored here Figure 2 I 23

I 0 Do your carbon copies match Note: See also Appendix C of AR If you can honestly answer yes to most of these questions, then you should be in fairly good shape. On the other hand, if you still have questions, it might be worthwhile to troubleshoot a little further, with the help of your XO. The Inventory Process Once you feel satisfied that the paperwork appears in order, you need to review the component hand receipt against the most recent -10 and changes or HR of the end item that is listed in column b of your sub-hand receipt to ensure that it is complete and accurate. Then obtain enough copies of each component hand receipt so that there are at least two copies for each item on your sub-hand receipt. Next, set a date with the previous platoon leader (or whoever is the sub-hand receipt holder of your pla-the orginal? 735-11. toon) that allows ample time to seriously. inventory all components of the end items for which you will be signing. A good rule for tankers is to set aside half a work day. This will allow time for the crews to lay out neatly all the BII and AAL items on their tarps, as well as provide plenty of time for you to inventory each individual tank. Insist that all items are laid out the same for all like end items and that all items listed in the component listing are laid out prior to the inventory. Inform the sub-hand receipt holder that you will not accept any item which was not laid out, but was located during the inventory. Another good idea is also to request that the platoon sergeant have the crews line up in front of their vehicles at parade rest and snap to attention when you arrive to inventory. While this does not reflect heavily upon property accountability, it will show the soldiers and the commander that you take your job as a platoon leader There are many ways to inventory. Some officers read off each item and have each person hold that item up. Other platoon leaders go from individual end item to individual end item and inspect each item named off of the component hand receipt. For the first time, this is the preferred method because you will want to check to make sure that they have the right tools listed and for serviceability of the tools. You may see tools that are substituted for another tool (e.g., a 10-inch adjustable wrench for an 8-inch adjustable wrench). A good rule to follow with in-lieu-of issues is that “you can always go up, but you can’t go down.” Also, you cannot substitute some items for other items (e.g., open end for Allen wrenches). Again, your XO is a good source for this information, as is the supply sergeant. Have the platoon sergeant gather up any items that you find to be unacceptable or unserviceable. Upon 24 completion of your inventory of each vehicle, stop and have the commander of that vehicle sign the hand receipt and give him a copy. Once you have inventoried all items listed on the sub-hand receipt, visit the supply sergeant and sign your sub-hand receipt. There you will also rectify any discrepancies noted. Also, you should adjust any change documents and turn-in all unserviceable items for direct exchange. Records Management Now you should at least have a basic concept of how to check your records and how to do an inventory. This is the first step in good records management. Another thing to consider is keeping your records organized. One good way is to get a notebook, some light green dividers that are three-hole punched, some tabs, an envelope that is large enough to secure your DX slips, and some document protectors; then set up a platoon sub-hand receipt notebook (see Figure 2). Including an 8-by-10 photo of the layout for each end item to help visually organize the sub-hand receipt is also a good idea both for you and your vehicle commanders. Continue to do routine inventories prior to the departure of a vehicle commander from your unit, following returning from field problems, and before your semiannual updating of your sub-hand receipt (If you do the first two, you usually will not have to spend much time doing the latter.) Once you have established your inventory standards, you can speed up the inventory process by having the platoon hold up all items as you read them off. Then you can use one component hand receipt replacing columns A-F with the bumper number of each vehicle. When you have finished, you can have each vehicle commander sign under their bumper number; then each vehicle commander and you can transcribe the inventory to each component hand receipt while the rest of the platoon stores the equipment. Along with routine inventories, you should review the component hand receipt and identify what items are classified as durable and expendable. As illustrated in Figure 3, your end items are composed of many items that vary in class code and are listed on component hand receipts for various reasons (Figure 3 also shows the overall supply process as it relates to the platoon.). Therefore, to best serve your soldiers and help maintain proper accountability, you should identify the class status and accounting requirement code (ARC) of each item. To do this, you need to look up the items by the NSNs on the AMDF for the ARC code. You will see either a “D” for durable or “X” for expendable. Mark this in pencil in column e of your component hand receipt. Also use the AMDF to identify whether the item is Class I1 or Class IX, which is found by looking at the SCMC code. This will help to know where to take the item when it is unserviceable. I know of an incident when an item was not ordered for over a year because the supply sergeant, who deals mainly with Class 2 requisitions, had a Class 9 item sitting in his storage room because someone turned it in to him and it was too heavy to pick up and take to the PLL office. A good thing to do, once you have identified broken or missing Class 9 expendable items, is to order these items and list them on your DEF MAINT to keep track of them. Finally, you need to review routinely the Due-In listing to keep track of items on order for your platoon. There has been many a time when tools have come in and gone elsewhere due to the lack of follow-through by a platoon leader. By routinely visiting supply, you can also discover when the supply sergeant is going to SSSC to pick up supplies. Then you can refresh his memory about the Class 2 expendable items he needs to pick up for you. Always remember that your supply sergeant plays an important part in the supply process, and you need to maintain a good working relationship with him. So, as you show interest in your supply problems, also show consideration for his. Conclusion The purpose of this article has been to help you avoid some of the mistakes that others before you have made. Errors occur as a result of incompetence and ignorance. Therefore, it is your responsibility to be the watchdog and maintain accountability over your property and sub-hand receipt.

E. ASBURY entered the service in 1981 from ROTC at Brigham Young University. He received his MA in Counseling and Guidance from BYU in 1983 and isa graduate of the AOBC and the JOMC. He has served in the Reserve component as an adjutant, and on active duty as a platoon leader and XO. Currently, he is liaison officer, HHC, 2-34Armor. Fort Carson, CO. 25