LESSON 2
FEDERAL SUPPLY CATALOG AND OTHER MEDICAL SUPPLY PUBLICATIONS
Section I. INTRODUCTION
2-1.
GENERAL
a. However complex supply matters seem, help in clarifying them is no farther
away than the proper publication. Basic to good execution of a supply job at any level is
knowledge of where to find needed information and how to locate it in any particular
publication. This knowledge of sources of information and instruction and the skill in
using them simplifies the complex tasks of supplying the US Army.
b. The Federal Supply Catalog is the publication most widely and specifically
used in military supply operations. Any requisition or turn-in of standard repetitive
supply items is based on the information supplied by the Federal Supply Catalog.
c. Every individual whose duties in any way entail use of, or requests for,
supplies to support the work of his assignment or the troops for whom he is responsible,
needs to know how to use the Federal Supply Catalog to ensure that he gets the exact
items required to accomplish his unit's missions.
2-2.
FEDERAL SUPPLY CATALOG, MEDICAL CATALOG
Every request for medical materiel must be fulfilled accurately. The very nature
of patient care demands that there be no error. As an AMEDD member concerned with
supply, you must know how to use the Federal catalog system. The Federal Supply
Catalog, Medical Catalog, printed on microfiche, is the basic source document for
medical materiel. A working knowledge of the catalog will enable you to better
understand the supply system.
2-3.
20,000 MEDICAL MATERIEL ITEMS
There are more than three million standard items in the DOD supply system.
There are approximately 20,000 items of medical materiel alone. The Federal Supply
Catalog, Medical Catalog, is the tool for identifying specific medical items in this vast
universe.
2-4.
NEED FOR "COMMON LANGUAGE"
After World War II, it was apparent that not all supply people spoke the same
language. Each branch of the Armed Services had its own system for supply. Within
the US Army itself, the "technical services" were using different systems of cataloging,
numbering, and identifying items of supply. Since some identical items were stocked by
the Armed Services, but called by different names and carried under different stock
MD0029
2-2