Contract Specialist – also called a buyer is a government employee that initiates contracts for all NAVSUP WSS Codes located in the Contracts Division or Code 02.

Contracts Division – commonly known as NAVSUP WSS-02 or Code-02 is the contracting arm of the Naval Supply Systems Command Weapon Systems Support. Its primary purpose is to support the contracting needs of the Integrated Weapon Systems Teams. It also provides contracting support for NAVSUP WSS’s Foreign Military Sales division, but on a lower priority level.

Foreign Military Sales program (FMS) – is the government-to-government method for selling U.S. defense equipment, services, and training.

Green Belt – is an employee of an organization who has been trained on the improvement methodology of Six Sigma and will lead a process improvement or quality improvement team as part of their full time job.

Integrated Weapon Systems Teams (IWST) – commonly known as NAVSUP WSS-03 or Code-03, are the various teams in charge of the logistics support for the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps. Its primary function is to support the fleet. It also supports Foreign Military Sales activities and programs but on a lower priority level.

Item Manager – is the unofficial title of a Logistics Management Specialist located in the Integrated Weapon Systems Teams that is in charge of managing specific parts or materiel.

International Programs Division – commonly known as NAVSUP WSS-OF, Code-OF, Foreign Military Sales or FMS is a component of the Naval Supply Systems Command Weapon Systems Support that is in charge of supporting the foreign military allies’ program and weapon systems. It is headquartered in Philadelphia, PA.

Joint and Allied Forces – are the United States’ foreign military allies.

Lean Six Sigma – is an increasingly popular combined management approach that emphasizes use of Lean methodologies and tools to identify and remove waste and increase process velocity, followed by use of Six Sigma methodologies and tools to identify and reduce or remove process variation. This process is called also called Continuous Process Improvement (CPI) at NAVSUP WSS.

Logistics Management Specialist – is the official title of Logistics Managers located at the Naval Supply Systems Command Weapon Systems Support. For the purpose of this paper, Foreign Military Sales Logistics Managers will be called Logistics Management Specialists, while Integrated Weapon Systems Teams Logistics Managers will be called Item Managers to avoid confusion. IWST Logistics Management Specialists have various other names depending on their functions (e.g. Item Manager, Equipment Specialist, etc), while Foreign Military Sales Logistics Management Specialists are just called that.

Man-Year: A method of describing the amount of work done by an individual throughout the entire year. The man-year takes the amount of hours worked by an individual during the week and multiplies it by 52 (or the number of weeks worked in a year). The man-year calculated will be different for various industries depending on the average number of hours worked each week and the number of weeks worked per year.

Materiel – in the English language, refers to military equipment and supplies.

Naval Air Systems Command- is a U.S. Navy Systems Command (SYSCOM) that provides material support for aircraft and airborne weapon systems for the United States Navy.

Naval Sea Systems Command- is the largest of the U.S. Navy’s five Systems Commands (SYSCOM), or materiel (not to be confused with “material”) organizations. Its primary objective is to engineer, build and support the U.S. Navy’s fleet of ships and combat systems.

Naval Supply Systems Command Weapon Systems Support (NAVSUP WSS) – is one of the five components that make-up the Naval Supply Systems Command. NAVSUP WSS provides the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, and Joint and Allied Forces program and supply support for its weapon systems. NAVSUP WSS’s aviation division is located in Philadelphia, PA, while its surface division is in Mechanicsburg, PA. Formerly called the Naval Inventory Control Point or NAVICP. Locally known as the former Depot, NAVSUP WSS, NAVSUP, or just WSS.

Navy International Logistics Control Office (NAVILCO) – is the predecessor organization of NAVSUP WSS’s International Programs Division that was in charge of providing supply and weapon system support to the Joint and Allied Forces. NAVILCO was located in Bayonne, NJ before it was decommissioned.

Requisition – A sales order.

Security Assistance Foreign Liaison (SAFR): is a fully accredited member of a foreign military of defense establishment tasked with representing that government’s official business with the United States Navy.

Systems Command (SYSCOM): a materiel organization of the U.S. military