Before you destroy any of the engineering department records, study the Disposal of Navy and Marine Corps Records, USN and USNS Vessels, SECNAVINST P5212.5 (revised). This publication provides the procedures for disposing of records. For each department aboard the ship, these instructions list the permanent records that must be kept and the temporary records that may be disposed of according to an established schedule.

Both the Engineering Log and Engineers Bell Book must be preserved as permanent records on board ship for a 3-year period unless they are requested by a naval court or board, or by the Navy Department. In such case, copies (preferably photostatic) of records that are sent from the ship are certified by the engineer officer as being true copies and are put in the ships files.

At regular intervals, such as each quarter, records that are over 3 years old are destroyed. When a ship that is less than 3 years old is decommissioned, the current books are retained on board. If a ship is scrapped, the current books are forwarded to the nearest Naval Records Management Center.

All reports forwarded to, and received from, NAVSEA or another superior command may be destroyed when they are 2 years old, if they are no longer required.

Finally, to control the volume of paper work, reports should only be kept on board ship if they

1. are required,

2. serve a specific purpose, or

3. may provide repair personnel with information not found in publications or manuals.

MEASURE PROGRAM

All equipment requiring calibration or servicing should be maintained at maximum dependability. To meet this requirement, the Chief of Naval Material implemented the Metrology Automated System for Uniform Recall and Reporting (MEASURE). The MEASURE system is a tool for your use. It is only as good as the information that you put into it. Therefore, it is important that alI the information be complete, legible, accurate, and consistent.

As an EN you will be required to read gauges to determine if the equipment is operating properly. The gauges must be calibrated periodically to assure their accuracy. The MEASURE program provides this calibration. In this section, we will discuss some of the major parts of the MEASURE system.