At a command as large and intricate as amphibious assault ship USS Boxer (LHD 4) it may be easy to overlook the role of smaller divisions, such as Administration and Personnel, and how they can be just as important to the Boxer mission as engineering or deck department.

Admin and Personnel handle many clerical requirements of a Sailor's career such as personal records, awards, pay, and promotions. They process paperwork and correspondence required so Sailors and Marines are free to concentrate on the mission at hand.

"Admin is really what I would call the softer side of the war," said Lt. Nilbert Ng, Boxer's admin officer. "Everyone in my department, if they do their job on time and accurately, makes sure that our Sailors are paid on time, they make sure that their benefits kick in on time, [and] they give proper counseling so Sailors don't miss milestones like reenlistments or bonuses. We make sure that every other department on the ship is able to do their jobs and not have to worry about things like pay or benefits."

Although every department has an appointed admin representative who can perform a certain degree of paperwork, the bulk of the ship's administration duties fall upon the shoulders of two rates -- yeoman and personnel specialist. Both rates administer personnel records and paperwork and coordinate with the shore personnel support detachment in San Diego.

The primary job of the yeoman rating is to originate correspondence and directives, process awards, fitness reports, and draft and release the commanding officer's policies.

"We are really here for the Sailors," said Yeoman 2nd Class Maryannah O'Connor, admin assistant leading petty officer. "We work on evaluations, awards, and letters of designation and basically we work for them. If a Sailor is up for a selection board we want to make sure that information is as correct as possible. For example, in regards to command awards we first verify the member's record, making sure that there is continuity and no discrepancies. We do a lot of verification before we actually work on the award itself, and after that is finished we push it up for the commanding officer's signature."

"We reflect the Boxer's professionalism and quality of work through evaluations, correspondence, directives, and awards; we want our paperwork to be as good as our Sailors," said Yeoman 3rd Class Robert Simpson.

The yeomen also serve a vital role as the route from which the commanding officer's policy reaches the rest of the crew.

"We put the commanding officer's policy on paper, return it to him so he can read over it, and once he approves it we release it to the crew," said Alston. "Without that policy we would not know our marching orders; we wouldn't know what we needed to do to continue the mission. If the communication is not there then the whole organization will fall apart. For example, if went into a man overboard situation there would be no battle bill -- it would just be chaos and confusion."

On the other side are the personnel specialists, who primarily handle pay issues, auditing and maintaining the financial records of service members, and determining such issues as travel deductions and accounting.

"As personnel specialists our rate is based on pay," said Personnel Specialist 2nd Class Karmen Sales, Personnel Division's leading petty officer. "Pay is our basic function in the office -- pay when a person is promoted, and pay when a person leaves the command."

They also offer counseling on job and educational opportunities both within the Navy, information on military benefits, and requirements for promotion.

"Whatever questions a Sailor comes to us with, if we don't have the information on hand we will research it and find it out for the Sailor," said Sales.

"It's really important for Sailors and Marines to have their information correctly in the system," said Personnel Specialist 3rd Class Andrew Cipolla. "It will alleviate the stress of having to chase them down and getting the information from them that way. I can do all my work without even having to interact with them and I can have information prepared for them ahead of time."

Both divisions strive to provide quality customer service to the crew so Sailors have one less worry and can continue to focus on the mission.

"Customer service is important because it puts your mind at ease," said Personnel Specialist Seaman Markel Carter. "We already go through enough stress as it is with our regular jobs, so when it comes to something that's related to our personal lives and our well being you want someone who is going to work with you that has a positive attitude, that is knowledgeable, and makes you feel that you made the right choice by coming to administration or personnel."

"Customer service helps the mission because we can get people where they need to go as [quickly] and efficiently as possible without them having to stress out about it," said Cipolla. "I think admin and personnel alleviate the stress and pressure many feel -- most of their personal worries we take care of. [I think] people wouldn't have the time to do their own jobs or collateral duties otherwise; their pay would be messed up; correspondence couldn't move through the ship."

"We always strive to give the best most professional customer service available," said O'Connor. "We are here for the Sailors and we want to serve them as best we can."

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