Navy Supply Corps ( United States ) The Supply Corps of the United States Navy traces its beginnings to February 23 , 1795 when the nation ' s first Purveyor of Public Supplies , Tench Francis , Jr . , was appointed by President George Washington . The Supply Corps is one of the oldest staff corps in the U . S . Navy . Supply Corps officers are concerned with supply , logistics , combat support , readiness , contracting and fiscal issues . The official motto of the Supply Corps is " Ready for Sea " - reflecting the Supply Corps ' longstanding role in sustaining warfighting . Commissioned officers in the Supply Corps are schooled and experienced in a variety of disciplines such as supply management and expeditionary logistics , inventory control , disbursement , financial management , contracting , information systems , operations analysis , material and operational logistics , fuels management , food service and physical distribution . Supply Corps officers can be members of a ship or shore activity ' s supply department or can be billeted into supply units / commands - such as the Navy Expeditionary Logistics Support Group ( NAVELSG ) , Fleet Logistics Centers ( FLCs ) or Navy Special Warfare ( SPECWAR ) Logistics Groups which support the United States Navy SEALs . Supply Corps officers can command supply units . A Supply Corps officer is always the Commanding Officer of a Naval Cargo Handling Battalion - groups charged with stevedoring and logistics whose constituent companies are led by both Supply Corps and Civil Engineer Corps officers . Supply Corps officers also serve in forward deployed land - based units - such as the Seabee s - working alongside Civil Engineer Corps officers and in a joint capacity with Marine Corps . Navy Supply Corps School . New Supply Corps junior officers attend the Navy Supply Corps School ( NSCS ) in Newport , RI . NSCS was first opened as the Navy Supply Corps School of Application in 1921 , located at the Navy Department in Washington , D . C . After just three years the school was closed , and for the next ten years supply officers learned their profession on the job , at sea from senior supply officers and through formal , but independent coursework . A more formal arrangement was achieved when the Naval Finance and Supply School was opened at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard in September 1934 , for instruction of regular Navy Supply Corps officers . The training of reserve officers did not become available until 1940 , when the Supply Corps Naval Reserve Officers School was established in Washington , D . C . After ten months the two schools were merged , creating the Navy Supply Corps School , located at the Harvard Business School in Cambridge , Massachusetts . During U . S . involvement in World War II , 13 , 000 officers graduated from NSCS at Harvard . In 1944 , the Naval Supply Operational Training Center was established at the Naval Supply Depot in Bayonne , New Jersey . It was redesignated the Navy Supply Corps School in 1946 , but within a few years it outgrew its facilities . Through the efforts of two Georgia politicians , U . S . Senator Richard B . Russell Jr . and U . S . Representative Carl Vinson , the school was moved to Athens , Georgia in 1954 . The 2005 Base Realignment and Closure round determined that NSCS will be relocated to Naval Station Newport , Rhode Island in 2011 . Professional qualifications . Supply Corps officers can earn one or more of four community warfare insignias : Earning a warfare qualification is often a prerequisite for promotion to senior officer ranks of Commander ( O - 5 ) and higher . A Supply Corps officer ' s future career promotion and assignment prospects can be negatively impacted if he / she served at an operational unit or on board a ship , but failed to earn a warfare pin . Current Navy policy dictates that Supply Officers complete two operational tours and obtain a warfare pin for consideration for Lieutenant Commander ( O - 4 ) boards . Additional information . Supply Corps officers are sometimes called " SUPPO , " although this term is the billet of Supply Officer which is the supply department head and senior Supply Corps officer of a command . Other nicknames include " Pork Chop " ( due to the shape of the Supply Corps staff insignia ) . Aboard submarines , the Supply Officer is called " Chop " . While " Supply Officer " is a specific billet which an officer may fill , there are also many other positions open to Supply Corps officers as this is an inherently multi - disciplinary career field . These include : ASUPPO , or Assistant Supply Officer ; Stock Control Officer ; Aviation Stores Officer ; FSO , or Food Service Officer ; Sales Officer ; DISBO , or Disbursing Officer . At larger commands , sometimes Hazardous Materials Officer , Postal Officer , and Wardroom Officer are primary billets for Supply Corps officers vice being collateral duties at smaller commands . Enlisted ratings that compose the Navy supply community are : SHs ( Ship ' s Servicemen ) , who assist Supply Officers in managing shipboard retail and service activities ; LSs ( Logistic Specialists ) , who assist Supply Officers in managing inventories of parts , supplies and mail ; PSs ( Personnel Specialists , a recent merger of the former Disbursing Clerk ( DK ) and Personnelman ( PN ) ratings ) , who assist with the disbursement of funds ; CSs ( Culinary Specialists , formerly known as Mess Management Specialists ( MSs ) ) , who manage and execute all food service operations . In October , 2009 , the Storekeeper and Postal Clerk ratings were combined into Logistics Specialists ( LS ) . Advancement . Three stars ( Vice - Admiral ) is the highest rank a Supply Corps officer in the U . S . Navy can attain . Nineteen Supply Corps Officers have advanced to that rank : William J . Carter , E . G . Morsell , Edwin Dorsey Foster , Charles W . Fox , Murrey L . Royar , A . A . Antrim , Stephen R . Edson , Robert F . Batchelder , Joseph M . Lyle , Kenneth R . Wheeler , George E . Moore II , Vincent A . Lascara , Eugene A . Grinstead , Edward M . Straw , Keith W . Lippert , Justin D . McCarthy , Alan S . Thompson , Mark Harnitchek and William " Andy " Brown . Navy Expeditionary Supply Corps Officer . The Navy Expeditionary Supply Corps Officer program is designed to recognize significant contributions made by Supply Corps officers while serving in operational expeditionary billets . Navy Expeditionary Supply Corps officer qualification represents a level of expeditionary knowledge that distinguishes an officer of the Supply Corps from his or her peers . The Navy Expeditionary Supply Corps officer qualification program is mandatory for all Supply Corps officers serving in designated billets as determined by Commander , Navy Expeditionary Combat Command ( COMNAVEXPDCMBTCOM ) and Commander , Naval Special Warfare Command ( COMNAVSPECWARCOM ) . Commanders and above with other Supply Corps professional qualification ( e . g . , Naval Aviation Supply Corps officer or Surface Warfare Supply Corps officer ) may elect not to participate , but Navy Expeditionary Supply Corps officer qualification is encouraged for these officers .