Chapter 8 Military Responsibilities and Duties

CHAPTER 8 MILITARY RESPONSIBILITIES AND DUTIES As you strive to become a leader in today’s Navy, you will confront many difficult leadership challenges. You will have to deal with recruits in an all-volunteer force environment, ensuring equality for all, ending drug and alcohol abuse, and retaining valuable personnel. Leaders should know how to analyze these challenges objectively and take creative and innovative action to handle them. MILITARY DUTIES OF THE PETTY OFFICER Learning Objectives: Recall the duties and responsibilities of the petty officer of the watch (POOW). Recall how to prepare naval and business correspondence. Identify who is authorized to sign official Navy documents. Recall the importance of the ship’s deck log. Recognize the entries in the ship’s deck log. Identify how to train personnel in the safeguards against acts of terrorism and victimization. Identify how to train personnel in procedures pertaining to bomb threats. Recall the procedures to relieve an armed watch. Recognize honors rendered to officers and officials boarding and departing the ship. Recognize POOW responsibilities concerning weather. Recognize POOW responsibilities when your ship is moored or anchored. Recognize the duties of petty officer military watches (petty officer of the watch, master-at-arms, police petty officer, shore patrol, etc.). In this section you will be introduced to some of the typical military duties of a petty officer, both aboard ship and ashore. PETTY OFFICER OF THE WATCH The POOW is the primary enlisted assistant to the officer of the deck (OOD) when the ship is in port. The POOW assists the OOD in carrying out the ship’s daily routine and in ensuring the security and safety of the ship. In this section, you will be familiarized with several areas of POOW responsibility to include administration, watch standing, communications, security, and safety. Administration Later in this section we will discuss the administration of logs and records associated with watch standing. Now let’s look at administrative responsibilities in the area of general correspondence that are applicable to the petty officer as a work center leader, as well as a POOW. As a petty officer, especially a second class petty officer, you need to be familiar with naval correspondence procedures. For details of naval correspondence, consult the Department of the Navy Correspondence Manual, SECNAVINST 5216.5. When corresponding internally or externally there are set procedures for the context and format of the various types of correspondence. Records, logs, and reports are correspondence and require signatures by the authority assigned or designated. Certain records, logs, and reports must be forwarded for review by higher authority and they may require a cover letter. Higher authority also releases messages, another form of correspondence. CORRESPONDENCE.—As a petty officer, you will be required to compose correspondence from brief notes and occasionally from oral instructions. You will be required to prepare draft correspondence that should need only minor changes before it is ready for smooth typing. You must master the art of writing short, concise, routine correspondence. In some situations, 8-1 As a vision for the future, let me just say we will steer by the stars and not the wake. And I see four stars of equal magnitude in the constellation that will guide us: operational primacy, teamwork, leadership and pride. —Admiral J. Johnson Chief of Naval Operations