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As the name implies, the men of supply department keep the ship supplied with
all the things, large and small, that are necessary to shipboard life. They
have the job of providing what is needed, when it is needed, where it is needed.
In addition they provide some of the extras which make shipboard life a bit
less rigorous. The men who handle the requisitioning of stores, expendable
materials, repair parts, etc., are the storekeepers. They have the task of
keeping on board ready for use the materials with which all the other divisions
do their work. The commissarymen order provisions and then prepare well-balanced
meals from them. They probably hear more gripes per man than any other group
aboard ship. Everyone wants to know why the chow isn't like home, or like
a restaurant ashore, but never stop to consider that at home meals weren't
cooked for some 230 men, and restaurant cooks don't have to contend with such
cramped and rolling galleys. Ship's servicemen run the laundry, barber ship,
and ship's store. There was a time in the navy when the crew washed their
own clothes, cut each other's hair, and had no "gedunk" store; but now, thanks
to the supply department these things are provided for us. The disbursing
clerk is the most popular man on the ship, or at least twice a month he is.
He is the man who handles pay records, and then on the big day he is there
in the mess hall with the Paymaster. Then there are the hospitalmen who man
sick bay. We often joke about their prescribing an APC for any and all ailments,
but they are well-trained in their field, and sooner or later many of us are
glad to have them to turn to when we do need medical attention. |
