A couple of Skyway members have had questions about what a National Stock Number (NSN) is and how to get one.   The NSN is a stock number that is assigned to items that are going to be stocked in the DoD supply system.  Beans to bullets are assigned NSNs for inventory tracking purposes.  To understand the NSN better I need to explain the DoD supply system.

There are 5 primary supply systems in DoD, the fours services and the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA).  Each is responsible for managing items that are repeatedly procured, stocked, stored, issued, and used throughout the federal supply system. In theory, DLA’s charter is to manage weapon system items that are used by more than one service plus uniforms, food and medical supplies. The NSN can only be requested by the services or DLA.  Without an NSN the item will not be stocked in the supply system, which supports the US military around the world.

When a new system is fielded it goes through a provisioning process that determines what items will be required to repair and maintain the system.  Those parts all receive an NSN. Before that system is fielded those parts are ordered and put into the supply system to allow for maintenance and repair of the system.  It is DoD policy in weapons development to have manufacturers use common parts across systems whenever possible.  So, when the F-16 was built by Lockheed it had a long list of parts that were used to build the plane and assigned an NSN in the supply system.  When Lockheed built the F-35, where ever possible, Lockheed would have tried to use parts that were in the F-16 or any other part already in the supply system. This allows for more efficiency in the logistical support of weapon systems.

Since multiple locations may have that system the parts are stored at central locations and when parts are needed requisitions are issued by the requiring activity.  A tank maintenance unit at Fort Hood can requisition a circuit board by its NSN, to fix a radio, as can a tank unit in Germany. Ships at sea, Army units and Air Force squadrons all use the supply system to get items from critical weapon system parts to chairs for offices.  This is a very simplified explanation of the DoD logistic system but is critical to maintaining our defense readiness.

Now let’s talk about the NSN itself. The NSN is a 13-digit code. An example would be “5310-01-183-6841 NUT, PLAIN, HEXAGON”.   The first 4 numbers of the NSN are it supply class, in this instance 5310 is nuts and washers.  I spent 5 of my 18-year DLA career as the Section Chief for that supply class.  Many of those parts where flight safety critical parts and if the nut failed it could lead to a plane crash.  I was part of a major fraud case by the DoD and DoJ where a major manufacture of nuts for the DoD was knowingly selling bad parts.

When I was at NAVAIR I was working on the V-22 Osprey Program and we had a logistics issue where some of the parts were given the 1510 stock class designation, “Aircraft Fixed Wing” and others the 1520 designation, “Aircraft, Rotary Wing.  It seems that the USN couldn’t determine if the V-22 was a plane or a helicopter! Eventually it was decided all future parts would get a 1520 designation.

There is a long a process for an item to be officially assigned an NSN and it would take pages to explain.  The important basics for you to remember is that an NSN can only be requested by the services and that those items once classified enter into the supply system and can be requisitioned by any authorized DoD/federal activity.