Storekeeper

Storekeeper (SK) is an enlisted rating in the United States Coast Guard; until 2009 it was also a United States Navy rating, the most common supply rate in US Navy vs. CS (Culinary Specialist) and SH (Ship's Serviceman) and very much equivalent to the MOS 92 of the US Army. In the Navy this rate, together with PC (Postal Clerk), has been renamed or superseded by the rate Logistics Specialist (LS).

Function

One of the oldest Navy ratings, Storekeepers are tasked with maintaining ship or company military supply stores. Their responsibilities generally include purchasing and procurement, shipping and receiving, and issuing of equipment, tools, consumable items or anything else obtained through the Naval Supply System.

Chain of Command

Storekeepers fall under the authority of a supply officer. The exception to this is in the case of the Independent Storekeeper NEC which trains E-6 and above to operate independently of a Supply Officer. The best example of this is the Storekeeper(s) tasked with operating the Naval Air Station Sigonella, Sicily Weapons Department. The department, a semi-autonomous entity within NAS Sigonella, is headed by a weapons officer to whom the Storekeepers report. Since there is no Supply Officer within a weapons department, the task of signing requisitions falls upon the Independent Duty SK. In the past, NAVCOM surveys have announced Storekeeper rating as the highest suicide rating in the Navy.