Case Study: When Esu's Were The One Stop Shop For Cutter Support

Do you remember when ESU’s were the “one stop shop” for Cutter support? Ideally, if your Cutter had an electronic casualty and needed to order a part, you would generate a CASREP and request ESU acquire the part. Then things changed. Cutters transitioned to ALMIS and ESU’s morphed into Base C4IT Departments (BCD’s). BCD’s functioned only as the “checkbook”, purchasing parts when requested by the Cutter Product Lines (PL). Technically, BCD’s simply stepped in when requested by PL’s, TISCOM, or C3CEN. Now, if you needed a NTNO item, you still created a CASREP and requested BCD assistance. However, if your item was Coast Guard owned, then you addressed it in ALMIS and SFLC Product Line would request the assistance from BCD. Confused yet? Simply put, Cutters would no longer request BCD assistance unless it was for a NTNO item.
Now, the BCD’s will no longer process requisitions for either AFC 42 or AFC-80 purchases. Instead, this task will be performed by C4ITSC-FSD. Starting with an Initial Funds Request generated from an ALMIS/EAL discrepancy, C4ITSC-FSD will determine if AFC 42 or AFC 80 funds are to be used. If the request is for NTNO (AFC 80), the Cutter must first follow 2M/MTR procedures “if applicable” to determine if the part can be fixed locally. If it cannot, the Cutter will draft a CASREP and enter the discrepancy into ALMIS/EAL. If AFC 42 funds are required, C4ITSC-FSD will process requisition and purchase the item(s) Note, if the request is for a “Service”, then it will be sent to the local Port Engineer (BCD) first, who will locate and forward a quote to