As stated earlier in this chapter, minor repairs to surveying instruments and equipment are those that can be done in the field with the use of simple tools. Major repairs are done by instrument specialists who are generally employed by the manufacturers of the instruments. You should never attempt to make a major repair yourself.

When in the judgment of the senior EA or the engineering of!icer concerned an instrument is beyond economical repair, it must be surveyed (properly disposed of) by standard survey procedures. Then a replacement instrument must be ordered fkom the Navy supply system. Expendable items are procured in the same manner.

Each individual item of equipment or supply that is available through the Navy supply system is identified by a stock number and listed and described in a stock catalog. Identification of the items that may be drawn from supply by a battalion and the maximum number of each item a battalion may have are set forth in an allowance list. When the number of items available in a battalion falls short of the allowance (because of expenditure, wear, casualty, loss, or some other type of attrition), the shortage must be replaced.

Some items, such as range poles, chaining pins, bull-points, turning-point pins, targets, stake bags, equipment boxes, and the like, may be replaced by using the battalion or PWD shops personnel expertise. Most items, however, are replaced from supply; that is, they are ordered from the nearest available naval supply depot.

To replenish an item, you must order by stock number and follow a prescribed procedure. To learn the correct procedures, you should get in touch with one of the supply petty officers in the battalion or study the chapters on the Navy supply system in Military Requirements for Petty Officer Third Class, NAVEDTRA 12044, and Military Requirements for Petty Officer Second Class, NAVEDTRA 12045.

Every NMCB is properly outfitted with adequate surveying supplies and equipment. These necessary items are listed in the NMCB Table of Allowance (TOA) and are contained in Surveyor Kit #80010. For this reason, no attempt will be made to list all the equipment and supplies currently carried in the standard surveyor kit. Normally, four complete kits will be carried in the battalion allowance. They are available for check-out to the surveyor section supervisor or the senior EA. It is the responsibility of each survey party chief to make sure that the kit assigned to the crew is complete. The kits are required to be inventoried during turnover and at twice-monthly intervals throughout deployment. The purpose of these inventories is to ensure 100-percent accountability of the items contained in the kit and to ensure that all of those items are in a proper state of good repair. Remember, if you have custody of the kit, you can be held financially accountable for items missing or damaged through negligence.

Most consumable items contained in the kit, such as pencils, pencil leads, lumber crayon, and surveyors flaggings, are stocked in the battalion supply department for kit replenishment. Additional supplies and equipment are also stocked in the engineering office surveyors linker to supplement the kits.