Activities with GMs physically located ashore include the following:

All shore activities except naval hospitals operating hospital messes

All mobile construction battalions and detachments eating in GMs ashore

All fleet and force commands operating GMs

All cargo-handling battalions eating in GMs

All inactive service craft facilities

All naval beach groups

All GMs operated aboard permanently moored ships that grant liberty under shore command conditions, including naval inactive ship maintenance facilities

Daily Allowed Rations.- The executive or personnel officer verbally advises the FSO of any significant changes in the expected number of rations allowed for all categories of personnel to be fed in the GM for the following day. If warranted by local operating conditions, the executive or personnel officer furnishes this information more frequently. When the allowed rations include rations for foreign or other personnel for whom certification is required, the FSO is so advised. The FSO uses the daily expected number of rations allowed to accomplish the following:

Plan the quantities of food to be prepared on the following day after adjusting the net allowed rations by other factors affecting the number of personnel to be fed.

Prepare a certification of rations issued for personnel who require it. Before their departure, the number of rations received should be entered on the certificate and the person in charge of the group should sign it. If the signature of the person in charge of such personnel cannot be obtained, the FSO should sign the certificate.

Tenant activities should verbally advise the host command of any significant changes in the expected number of personnel to be fed in the GM for the following day.

Meal Pass.- The Meal Pass, NAVSUP Form 1105, is issued by the personnel office to identify each member authorized to eat in the GM ashore. The NAVSUP Form 1105 is available in white, blue, pink, green, salmon, and yellow.

The host command is responsible for coordinating procedures governing meal passes to ensure consistency by all tenant commands using the activity's GM. In this responsibility, the host command specifies the colors to be used for each category of personnel and prescribes procedures for controlling the issue of meal passes. Commands performing personnel and administrative functions must be responsible for the actual issue and control of NAVSUP Form 1105, which will be accepted as valid by any GM. Different color meal passes must be used to identify Naval Reserve and other military personnel in the following manner:

Naval Reserve enlisted personnel on active duty should be assigned the same color meal passes as Regular Navy personnel and should, for the purpose of GM accounting, be considered Regular Navy.

Naval Reserve enlisted personnel on active duty for training (ACDUTRA) should be assigned meal passes of a different color than Navy and Naval Reserve personnel on active duty and should be recorded and accounted for separately by the GM.

Different color meal passes are assigned to enlisted members of other service categories as determined by local needs.

The possession of a meal pass entitles the holder to consume meals at government expense in any Navy GM; therefore, it is incumbent upon each command to make sure only those enlisted members entitled to receive such meals are issued and permitted to retain a NAVSUP Form 1105.

Commands issue a meal pass to each enlisted member assigned who is entitled to rations-in-kind. Meal passes are not to be issued to the following:

Personnel receiving commute rations

Personnel receiving basic allowance for subsistence

Personnel assigned to another command, except at activities where two or more commands are serviced by a single personnel office

When a meal pass is issued to an individual, the individual's name and social security number are typed or printed opposite the pass number in the meal-pass log and the recipient signs the log.

Head Count Procedures.- A signature head count procedure is used by all shore GMs, except in cases of mass or captive feeding, to determine the actual number of personnel fed at each meal. Every person receiving a meal must sign, in ink, a Meal Signature Record, NAVSUP Form 1291, to indicate receipt . Ration credit is based on the number of signatures recorded. One initial surname and meal-pass number (except contract facilities' personnel who should insert one initial and surname only) are required of each individual. Command or unit entries are not required by parent (host) activity personnel or by tenant activity personnel if a means is used to identify individual tenant activities. Transient personnel are required to indicate their parent command or unit. Individuals passing through the serving line more than once during the same meal should sign the NAVSUP Form 1291 only once.

Figure 13-5.-Meal Signature Record, NAVSUP Form 1291.

The FSO is responsible for conducting and monitoring the signature head count procedure. The FSO also must train personnel involved in controlling the signature head count procedure, placing special emphasis on the eligibility of patrons authorized to receive rations-in-kind at government expense.

The messdeck master-at-arms (MDMAA) is responsible for the following:

Determining the eligibility of personnel passing through the serving line to cat in the GM

Obtaining signatures and a legible meal-pass number on the NAVSUP Form 1291

Preparing a daily Recapitulation of Meal Record, NAVSUP Form 1292 i . In discharging these responsibilities, the MDMAA places special emphasis on the eligibility of patrons authorized to receive rations-in-kind at government expense. The MDMAA performs the following:

Requires each person to exhibit a valid meal pass and identification card

Permits new arrivals on travel orders and receiving per diem to have the travel orders endorsed

Receives the NAVSUP Forms 1292 for mass feeding in the GM and makes a manual count of the group as they enter the serving line to verify the total

Enters Total Verified and signs on the second signature line of each NAVSUP Form 1292 for mass feeding within the mess area

The records keeper is responsible for verifying the entries made on the daily NAVSUP Form 1292 by the MDMAA and the cashier and for entry of meals served to personnel not passing through the serving line. The records keeper performs the following:

Verifies totals of each type of personnel listed

Checks cash sale to make sure credit sales are included in the count

Figure 13-6.-Recapitulation of Meal Record, NAVSUP Form 1292.

Makes sure the NAVSUP Form 1292 prepared for duty foodservice personnel is accurate and does not include personnel receiving commuted rations

Checks meals requested and furnished against NAVSUP Forms 1292 for other types of personnel not passing through the serving line

Makes sure the entry for contract foodservice personnel does not exceed the number on duty during the meal

Reports noted inconsistencies to the FSO for corrective action

Makes required corrections to personnel counts and coordinates the correction with the responsible personnel for the error whereby both must initial the correction

NAVSUP Form 1291.- This form should be preserialized and the headings completed before each meal to ensure control and to prevent loss or misuse of the signature sheets. Either the MDMAA or the person authorized in writing by the FSO supervises the signing of the NAVSUP Forms 1291. The supervising MDMAA should be seated on a high stool behind the signature counter to verify meal passes and to direct personnel to the correct meal signature sheet. This assignment is one of the most important duties within the division. This person must be firm but fair in carrying out this assignment. This person must make sure each person passing through the serving mess line is entitled to either rations-in-kind or pays, without exceptions.

Categories of personnel. The number of personnel fed in each category is determined by requiring the personnel in each category (Regular Navy, Naval Reserve, Marine Corps, Army, Coast Guard) to sign separate forms. The forms should be placed on separate clipboards, color coded to match the meal passes, or have stenciled signs to indicate the personnel categories. Minor categories may be combined on a single form and the appropriate category entered in the Command/Unit column.

Night and brunch meals. Night meals arc served between 2000 and 0800 hours. Brunch meals served before 0900 hours are recorded as breakfasts. Brunch meals served after 0900 hours are recorded as lunches. Special feeding occasions. The number of persons fed at special feeding occasions, such as picnics, barbecues, and cookouts, are counted and reported for the regular GM meal that the special event replaces.

Mass or Captive Feeding.- Mass feeding means accounting for a group of personnel by using a NAVSUP Form 1292 as a summary document instead of obtaining individual signatures on a NAVSUP Form 1291. At activities with mass or captive feeding, such as recruit training centers, schools, brigs, and groups fed outside the GM, the person in charge of a draft or group of personnel uses a NAVSUP Form 1292 to record the number of personnel in each category to be fed at the meal. The person in charge computes the total; writes an appropriate statement in the Remarks block, such as "Mass feeding-school," or" Mass feeding-picnic"; and signs on the first signature line including grade or rate and service number.

When a group is fed in the GM, the person in charge of the group presents the completed NAVSUP Form

1292 to the MDMAA upon entering the messdeck. The MDMAA makes a count of the group as it passes to verify the total, writes Total Verified, and signs on the second signature line. The MDMAA retains the NAVSUP Form 1292 and assembles it with the appropriate NAVSUP Forms 1291 for that meal.

Meals finished to personnel not passing through the mess line, such as working parties, inpatients of the dispensary or hospital, duty foodservice personnel, prisoners, and picnic or outing personnel, are handled as mass feeding. However, persons eating individually, in these cases, sign the NAVSUP Form 1291 and are excluded from the count on the mass feeding NAVSUP Form 1292. A person familiar with this responsibility is designated to prepare the NAVSUP Form 1292 and deliver it to the records keeper as soon as possible after the meal and no later than the following morning. The records keeper checks the form to make sure it is complete and makes such checks as possible to verify the total. The records keeper writes "Checked" and signs on the third signature line.

Meal Recapitulation.- Upon securing the mess line, the MDMAA assembles the forms in sequence by category and draws an ink line below the last name of each form. The MDMAA determines the total number of signatures for each category of personnel and enters the totals on a NAVSUP Form 1292, which is prepared in an original and one copy. The total of all categories is entered as the first subtotal. The totals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner are entered on the same form. Separate forms are not prepared for each meal. The MDMAA signs on the first signature line and delivers the NAVSUP Form 1292 to the FSO after the dinner meal. When more than one MDMAA is on duty at different meals, they both initial the subtotal(s) for which they are responsible and both sign on the first signature line.

Duty Cashier.- When cash sales are made, the duty cashier enters the total number of meals sold from the GM in the Cash Sales block, computes the second subtotal, and signs the certification on the second signature line. The entry opposite the Cash Sales block includes all meals sold, both those for which cash is collected before admission to the serving line and those sold on a credit basis. This figure should agree with the total recorded in the daily meal record.

On some stations the cashier billet may be combined with the MDMAA. This can be accomplished effectively providing the person assigned has received proper training. There is no individual duty or assignment that can be singled out as the most important within the foodservice division because it takes team effort; however, the duties of cashier and MDMAA have the distinction of being the first customer contacts. Letters of Authority, Authorization, and Appointment

Letters of authority appoint personnel to act for another person or persons of higher authority. Letters of authorization permit certain functions or actions. Letters of appointment assign responsibility and authority to designated personnel to control a specific function. The supply officer must maintain, in the supply office, a current file of all such letters applicable to operating the supply department. Copies applicable to the GM should be retained by the FSO.

LETTERS OF AUTHORITY.- The following are letters of authority that may be required in the foodservice division:

CO's letter appointing an assistant to the supply officer as the FSO

CO's letter appointing the person authorized to receipt for food items in the absence of the FSO and his or her designated assistant

Mess treasurer's letter designating a person to approve issue requests for a private mess LETTERS OF AUTHORIZATION.- The following are letters of authorization that may be required in the foodservice division:

CO's letter authorizing the FSO to make necessary changes in the approved menu

CO's letter authorizing the sale of meals from the GM on a credit basis

CO's letter authorizing a change fund for the GM LETTERS OF APPOINTMENT.- The following arc letters of appointment that may be required in the foodservice division:

CO's letter appointing a control officer for the handling and security of the Cash Meal Payment Book, DD Form 1544

FSO's letter appointing an individual to be a collection agent or authorized funds custodian

FSO's letter designating a cashier to receive payment for meals sold from the GM