JLU-West’s naval storemen join ‘Silent Service’
28 July 2010
The Joint Logistic Unit-West at HMAS Stirling delivers a bewildering array of important support to the ships and submarines based at Fleet Base West.
One of the important components of JLU-West is the Fleet Logistics Support Element (FLSE), which is manned by some of the many ‘unsung heroes’ who directly contribute to Fleet operations.
POSN Aaron Loveday, IC Sub Cell 1, told us that a standalone inventory management system called SLIMS and a breed of eager young Navy Storeman now posted to submarines are making support for the Collins boats more efficient and cost effective.
POSN Loveday said as the IC Sub Cell One, he leads a cell of four sailors who are responsible for the logistics supplies for HMA Submarines Rankin, Collins and Farncomb.
“The biggest challenge in this job is to provide the inventory required by the submarines, given the minimum amount of spares that we have in stock and the time it takes to get the others from foreign suppliers,” he said
POSN Loveday said a lot of the submarines’ Priority One URDEFS (Urgent Defects) are issued at short notice, which challenges his team to obtain spares from overseas suppliers, many of whom don’t see the RAN as an urgent customer when they have such big mining companies as their major clients.
He said another task is to look after all the local purchase requests by the submarines.
“We maintain their signal and URDEF databases so that we can provide command with a holistic picture of what the defects are on the sub, as well as the timeframe required to get the stores required to rectify these faults,” he said.
Additionally, his cell manages the supply customer accounts and stocktaking reports for all three submarines which are reported back to Fleet HQ via SRS to develop a picture regarding the status of stores onboard which includes waste and discrepancies.
POSN Loveday said in what marks a small milestone for Naval Stores, three sailors have been posted to submarines to help with asset management and the implementation of SLIMS.
“The benefits are that this will mark a huge improvement in their asset management by giving them a holistic picture of what they have onboard, or what they need on board,” he said.
SN Loveday said the young Naval Stores sailors are enjoying this challenge.
“For young storemen it is quite a good posting because of the learning opportunities and the responsibilities,” he said.
“The young storemen on the subs using SLIMS really enjoy being on a Collins class submarine, although they haven’t done too much sea time yet because they are still getting qualified.
“That’s been our biggest milestone since I joined this unit in Feb 2010.”
