PREPARATION FOR UNREP.- Delivery of material during UNREP/INREP is basically a five-step process as follows:

l Requisitions are submitted to a CLF unit by message, mail, or tape.

l The CLF unit stages the requested material according to its delivery plan.

l Material is transferred to the requesting ship by highline or connected replenishment (CONREP), helicopter (VERTREP), or in-port replenishment (INREP).

l Material is delivered to a drop point and distributed to various receiving points, usually a storeroom or central DTO processing area.

l Material is then placed in storage (if for stock) or turned over to the ordering department (if for DTO).

The pace of replenishment at sea prohibits accurate verification of receipts at the drop points. Material should be removed from the drop point before the physical receiving process begins. The following procedures are recommended to provide a smooth flow of material during UNREPs: . Assistance will be requiredmquhed from personnel outside the supply department. The UNREP should be carried out under the supervision of experienced personnel. Personnel should be assigned to specific tasks and supervisors should make sure that assigned tasks are understood and that personnel assigned to operate materials-handling equipment are qualified. l A plan should be developed to distribute material from each drop point. Full advantage should be taken of available materials-handling equipment (forklifts) as well as the ship's design and installed materialshandling capabilities.

. Responsible senior enlisted personnel are positioned to observe the flow of material and watch for possible material loss. The most experienced personnel should be placed at possible bottlenecks and in areas normally associated with the receipt of sensitive items such as pilferable, hazardous, and classified material.

l Personnel should not be allowed to begin receipt processing under any conditions that encourage carelessness. When necessary, material receipt can be processed upon completion of the replenishment and after stores are located in secure spaces.

TYPES OF STORES ANTICIPATED.- The number of receiving stations that must be manned depends largely on the amount and types of stores anticipated. Normally 2 or 3 days before the scheduled replenishment, the transferring ship notifies the receiving ship as to the nature and amount of stores to be transferred. The figures given are, in most cases, rough estimates that can be used for planning purposes. A safe rule of thumb is to plan for a one-third excess over the tonnage expected, and planners should assume that at least some of every category of material will be received. A replenishment plan must be flexible to make sure that its use is not destroyed by sudden, unexpected changes in quantities and type of stores received. Personnel must be available to handle all types of material at one time.

It is especially important to know the quantity and type of dangerous and semisafe material to be received. Adequate flammable storage space must be available to accommodate such material. Special procedures should be established so that this type of material can be taken directly from the receiving station to the paint or flammable storerooms and not be allowed to accumulate on deck.

Each type of stores received is handled in a different manner and should be directed to different storage locations. Plans for the replenishment must include the consideration of peculiar characteristics of all types of incoming stores. Some of the most important aspects of handling each category of material are discussed in the following paragraphs.

Aviation Stores.- Aviation material received during UNREP normally involves several different small items packed together in large boxes at the shipping point. Shipping containers obviously containing only one item need not be opened, but are directed to the proper staging area or storeroom at once. Items shipped as multipacks should be opened, checked, sorted, and forwarded to storerooms (or special receiving areas) as soon as possible. Normally, it is not advisable to move multipacks into storerooms simply to save time in clearing the deck. The AK in charge of flight clothing should be on hand during the sorting to take charge of his or her material.

Sorting and checking of aviation stores should be performed where manual handling can be minimized, and where the necessarily slower activity does not interfere with the rest of the replenishment operations. Debris from breaking open boxes should be cleared at once and disposed of according to local instructions.

General Stores.- General stores received during UNREP include bulky materials such as rags, toilet paper, brooms, swabs, and paint. Many of these items are difficult to handle with mechanical equipment. Sorting and checking of this type of material should be done under the supervision of a senior Storekeeper.

Dry Provisions.- Dry provisions represent a large portion of any replenishment. This category of material is the easiest to handle and sort. Most of these items are shipped in sturdy fiberboard cartons that are designed to move on conveyors easily and stack neatly on pallets. They are normally light enough to be handled by one person. Checking and sorting of this type material is required in all cases by senior Mess Management Specialists. Particular care must be exercised in handling items in bags such as flour and sugar.

Fresh Provisions. -Fresh provisions are somewhat difficult to handle and to move to the reefers. This is particularly true on ships where reefers are located in areas where access is difficult. The process of moving fresh provisions below decks can become bogged down and create a bottleneck.

Qualified personnel from the medical department should be on hand to inspect fresh produce and survey fruits and vegetables that did not pass inspection. Mess Management Specialists should be stationed in such places as necessary to detect spoiled produce and save manhours used in handling the commodities.

Frozen Provisions.- The most important requirement when moving frozen provisions is speed. Frozen products must be moved into the freezer immediately upon receipt. When the ship is operating in hot climates, the steel decks become very hot and frozen items thaw rapidly (partially or completely) and make them unsafe for consumption. Checking and sorting of this type receipt should be done by Mess Management Specialists.

Working party personnel assigned to handle frozen food items should be advised in advance to have gloves available when it is necessary to handle frozen items manually. A reasonably clean pair of canvas work gloves are best suited for this purpose.

Accountable Stores.- Receipt of large amounts of ship's store stock is also routine during UNREP. This includes clothing items, personal hygiene products, electronic equipment, and other pilferable items. The S-3 division should be represented by responsible persons at each loading station and supervised by senior Ship's Servicemen to take charge of such accountable material as soon as it is received.

When this type of item is received, each person in the supply department should assist in preventing theft. When the receipt involves a large quantity, responsible petty officers from other supply divisions may be used as escorts for working party personnel carrying the material to storerooms, or for watching the conveyor tracks or chutes. Every foot of the entire route used for moving accountable stores must be in full view of a responsible petty officer at all times.

Hazardous Material.- Hazardous material is defined as any material that requires careful attention to guarantee adequate safety to life and property because of its potentially dangerous nature. The receipt of hazardous materials during UNREP can be expected. Proper handling and stowage of this category of material is mandatory.

Federal regulations require hazardous materials be identified by symbols on labels attached to their containers to designate the degree of health, fire, reactivity, and specific hazards to the receiver. Each

type of hazard (except specific), has a number from 0 to 4 that represents the degree of hazard. For example, health hazard 4 identifies deadly. In addition, the symbols for each type of hazard are identified by different colors as follows: blue indicates health hazard; red indicates fire hazard; yellow indicates reactivity hazard; and white indicates specific hazard. Figure 3-3 illustrates hazardous material symbols on labels denoting the degree of hazards. The relation of these symbols to the type of storage requirement is described in figure 3-4.

Figure 3-3.-Hazardous material symbols.

Figure 3-4.

Some hazardous materials become especially dangerous when stored near certain items. For example, calcium hypochlorite and bleaching powder decompose and emit oxygen when exposed to heat or moisture. The oxygen emitted by these substances would accelerate the combustion of any flammable accidentally ignited nearby. The excess oxygen could also contribute to spontaneous combustion of flammable material stored in the vicinity of oxygen emitters. For these reasons, any item that tends to decompose and emit oxygen should be handled the same as flammable material. Chlorinated compounds, including cleaning compounds, must be isolated from acids, other oxidizing agents, moisture, flammable material, or exposure to heat.

Compressed Gases.- Compressed gases are classified as either flammable or nonflammable and must be handled properly. Oxygen and chlorine are nonflammable gases but react violently when mixed with hydrogen and acetylene.

Special safety precautions to be followed when handling compressed gas cylinders are as follows:

. Protective caps must be kept on cylinders that are not being used. Unprotected valves are easily damaged or broken off and could cause undetected leakage. Undetected leakage of hydrogen, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, chlorine, or ammonia could result in suffocation. . Cylinders must be secured by using collars or notched spacers during shipment. l Cylinders must not be tested by opening a valve to check if they are filled with gas. They must be weighed or checked with a pressure gauge to determine if they are full. Empty cylinders must be tagged with an "EMPTY" label to prevent confusion or mixing with full cylinders.