Precommissioned Ships A  ship’s  store  may  also  be  established  on  a precommissioned ship as long as the prospective supply officer has already reported aboard. Once the  prospective  supply  officer  is  aboard,  the prospective  commanding  officer  may  establish  a ship’s store in the same manner as commissioned ships, except the letter request must be sent via the  ship’s  type  commander. Unauthorized Activities Only  those  activities  authorized  by  the  com- manding  officer  may  operate  aboard  ship.  No sales outlet or service activity outside the ship’s store  operation  is  authorized  and  considered  a concession.   No   commercial   vendors   should   be allowed aboard to sell merchandise to the crew, under  the  agreement  to  pay  a  portion  of  the profits to the ship’s store or receive payment for items  sold  by  invoicing  them  through  the  ship’s store.  No  officer,  enlisted,  or  civilian  can  sell merchandise  individually  owned  through  the ship’s store for personal profit or interest. Ship’s store personnel working in the service activities cannot  accept  money  or  extra  compensation  for work   performed. PURPOSE OF THE SHIP’S STORE The  objectives  of  the  ship’s  store  (fig.  2-1) consisting of sales outlets and service activities are as  follows: 1.  Provide  a  source  of  funds  to  be  used  for the recreation of naval personnel through profits from  sales 2.  Provide  a  convenient  and  reliable  source for   personnel   to   obtain   articles   considered necessary   for   their   health,   comfort,   or convenience  at  the  lowest  practical  price 3.  Provide  services  necessary  in  day-to-day living 4.   Promote   morale The  objectives  mentioned  previously  are  not  easily obtained.  It  takes  much  work  and  effort  by  all Ship’s  Servicemen. Objectives  2  and  3  entail  several  tasks; however, as a sales outlet operator, you will not be  involved  in  all  these  tasks.  Since  the  sales outlets  are  located  aboard  ship,  they  are  a convenient  source  for  crew  members  to  obtain articles necessary in day-to-day living. However, if the sales outlet is not a reliable source, it is no longer considered a convenient source; therefore, as  the  sales  outlet  operator,  you  should  make  sure the most popular and essential items are available to  the  customers.  The  ship’s  store  officer  will prepare  and  approve  a  list  of  basic  stock  items, based  on  the  information  in  the  Consolidated Afloat  Requisitioning  Guide  Overseas  (CARGO) NAVSUP  Pub  4998,  chapter  2.  This  basic  stock list includes the most popular and essential stock items and will be made available to ship’s store personnel to assist them in keeping these items stocked  in  the  retail  stores.  As  the  retail  store operator,  you  should  notify  the  sales  office  in advance  when  there  is  a  shortage  of  any  of  the items  contained  in  this  basic  stock  list. There  are  also  several  publications  and  guides listed in the NAVSUP P-487 that will assist ship’s store  personnel  in  acquiring  articles  necessary  for the health, comfort, and convenience of personnel and  providing  services  necessary  in  day-to-day living.  NAVRESSO  also  provides  contracts  and bulletins  so  you  can  purchase  these  articles  at  the lowest  practical  prices. Objective 1 is directly related to objective 2. If  you  provide  desirable  merchandise  at  a  low practical price, sales and profits will increase, thus providing   a   source   of   funds   to   use   for   the recreation  of  the  crew. The  fourth  objective,  promoting  morale,  is easy  to  define  but  hard  to  fulfill,  and  almost impossible  to  measure.  To  promote  morale,  you must  have  satisfied  customers.  The  best  way  to satisfy a customer is to provide what the customer wants or a satisfactory answer, and that can only be  done  by  improving  your  knowledge  of  the ship’s  store  operation,  especially  in  the  areas  with which  you  should  be  familiar. ACCOUNTABILITY   AND RESPONSIBILITY Before  we  discuss  the  various  sales  outlets, there are a few terms you need to be familiar with because they relate to the ship’s store operation. For now, we will discuss the terms accountability and responsibility.  These  two  terms  are  closely related;  however,  they  have  noticeable  differences. The  term  accountability  is  an  obligation imposed  on  an  officer  to  give  an  account  for property, funds, and returns in his or her custody. In  the  ship’s  store  operation,  the  ship’s  store officer  is  obligated  by  law,  lawful  order,  and regulation  to  give  an  account  of  all  property  or funds and their intended use in the ship’s store; 2-2