Turnover

After getting a good night's sleep I was ready to start the turnover process with the current Disbursing Officer or Assistant Supply Officer. This would turn out to be another busy day. It would also be the only opportunity for me to pick the brain of a Disbursing Officer who had run the same office I would be taking over the next day. Normally, the process is completed over the course of at least a week.

Generally speaking, the most important aspects of a turnover are accounting for on hand currency and sales inventory. I was able to do a count of currency but did not have the time to perform an inventory. This decision would haunt me later on. Luckily, the records he showed me and left in the office are quite good. They have already been critically important in showing me how to perform various tasks. He set me up as well as could be expected from a one day turnover. I was able to contact other Assistant Supply Officers in the area and they have been of immense help in straightening out the transition.

As for being the Sales Officer, I count myself extremely lucky to have a chief to learn from. It will give me time to lock down disbursing procedures before moving onto sales. When I am ready to start leading the sales division, I have an experienced person to learn from at a much slower pace.

I later started to find out what pieces were still missing from the whirlwind turnover. I needed to register for certain disbursing programs and transfer accountability to my name. This involved many different email and phone conversations, as well as different signatures on various forms. I was also introduced to the sales division personnel for the first time. Perhaps the most frustrating part about the short turnover was in learning common ship schedules and duties. It was taken for granted that as an Officer, I knew them. I had not been on the ship long enough to have much idea of what was going on. I will go into more detail on these experiences in blogs to come.