Aviation Supply Specialist

Morning starts with reviewing the overnight message traffic for supply statuses — any NMCS aircraft that got a part shipped overnight needs its AWP status updated before the 0800 maintenance brief. Mid-morning is processing receipts from the previous day's deliveries, matching packing slips to open requisitions, posting to the system, and routing material to the maintenance shop. Afternoon is follow-up calls and message traffic to the MALS IMA for outstanding backorders, adjusting priorities on anything the Aircraft Maintenance Officer flagged. End of day is reconciling your requisition log and ensuring no NMCS requisition is sitting without a 72-hour follow-up.

Monday: review AWP report and reconcile against open requisitions with the maintenance chief. Tuesday-Wednesday: process all inbound material, post receipts, verify DIFM turn-in accountability. Thursday: physical spot-check of controlled items and high-value parts in the supply cage. Friday: requisition register audit — every open document accounted for, every status code current, brief the supply SNCO on anything that needs escalation to the MALS. Monthly: AVCAL review to verify on-hand quantities match authorized allowances.

MILSTRIP requisitioning is the bedrock — you must know Document Identifier Codes, Media and Status Codes, Unit of Issue, and how to read a supply status card cold. NSN/NIIN lookups via FEDLOG are how you find the right part when someone hands you a piece of metal with a part number scratched on it. NMCS and AWP tracking requires you to maintain visibility on every outstanding requisition tied to an aircraft that's grounded; you are the first line of accountability. AVCAL management means understanding what allowances are authorized for the squadron versus what has to be requisitioned from the MALS. SHOREREC system navigation — processing receipts, posting transactions, reconciling inventory — is the daily operational system you cannot afford to fumble.

MCO P4400.150 (Marine Corps Uniform Material Movement and Issue Priority System) governs every requisition priority you submit — knowing it prevents improper NMCS upgrades that waste urgency slots. NAVSUP P-485 (Naval Supply Procedures) is the Bible for how receipts, surveys, and material issues are processed; you will reference it constantly. COMNAVAIRFORINST 4790.2 (Naval Aviation Maintenance Program) is the maintenance instruction, but supply Marines must understand it because every CASREPmaintenance trigger has a supply component. MCO 4400.16 covers inventory management and physical inventory procedures — you'll face a wall-to-wall inventory at some point and this is how you pass it.

At E1-E3, the standard is clean documentation and zero unresolved discrepancies in your piece of the requisition log. A 72-hour follow-up on all NMCS requisitions without being told. Zero lost DIFM assets. Knowing your assigned TAMCN and stock numbers without looking them up. Every receipt processed the day material is received — not tomorrow, not end of week.

Confusing the Advice Code on a MILSTRIP requisition — particularly misusing code 2B (procurement restricted) when the part is actually in the system — routes the requisition into a dead end that can take days to recover. Entering the wrong Unit of Issue code (each vs. lot vs. set) when receipt-processing over-receives or under-receives material against the document. Failure to apply correct Julian date conversion when posting transactions leads to sequencing errors the Supply Officer will find during audit. Misidentifying an interchangeable NSN as the primary NSN causes FEDLOG cross-reference failures and a part that should be in stock gets requisitioned unnecessarily.

The first big fork is whether to apply early for a MALS billet after your initial squadron tour, which puts you in the intermediate supply environment and broadens your technical depth dramatically — MALS billets are harder but the Marines who do them promote faster. The second decision is whether to get your NCPACE or Community College of the Air Force credits moving — supply management has a direct civilian career translation and the Marines who build those credentials while in service have options the others don't.

At a VMFA (fighter-attack) squadron, the parts are high-cost, high-complexity, and the NMCS pressure is intense because a single jet grounded costs more per day than most junior Marines earn in a year — the pace is relentless. At an HMH (heavy helicopter) squadron, the rotary-wing parts ecosystem is different and the AVCAL structure heavier, with more organic supply depth but also more DIFM accountability complexity. At a MALS billet, you're the intermediate supply link for multiple squadrons, so your mistakes multiply in scope. At a MAG (Marine Aircraft Group) headquarters supply section, the work is more administrative and less transactional.

Outstanding junior Marines in 6672 own their portion of the requisition register without prompting — they know exactly which of their outstanding requests are NMCS-coded and they proactively call the MALS Supply Management Division for status before the daily aircraft status brief. They learn FEDLOG cross-referencing faster than their peers and start helping others find alternate NSNs. They read the daily AWP report and flag discrepancies before the supply chief does.

At Corporal you are expected to own an entire functional area — either managing all NMCS requisitions for an aircraft type or running the DIFM cage independently. You need to be correcting junior Marines' MILSTRIP errors, not making them yourself. The expectation shifts from 'follow the process' to 'own the process and brief the officer on exceptions.'