The Federal Stock Number (FSN) was the codification system used by the

U.S. federal government The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the Federation#Federal governments, national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 ...

from 1955 to 1974. It was 11 digits long. The first four digits were the Federal Supply Classification Group (FSCG) code. This relates the item to the Federal Supply Group (FSG; digits 1 & 2) and Federal Supply Classification (FSC; digits 3 & 4) of similar items that it belongs to. The next seven digits were the unique item's

serial number A serial number is a unique identifier assigned incrementally or sequentially to an item, to ''uniquely'' identify it. Serial numbers need not be strictly numerical. They may contain letters and other typographical symbols, or may consist enti ...

, or Federal Item Identification Number (FIIN). It was designed to simplify and standardize the

cataloging In library and information science, cataloging ( US) or cataloguing ( UK) is the process of creating metadata representing information resources, such as books, sound recordings, moving images, etc. Cataloging provides information such as auth ...

of common items in use by the

Department of Defense Department of Defence or Department of Defense may refer to: Current departments of defence * Department of Defence (Australia) * Department of National Defence (Canada) * Department of Defence (Ireland) * Department of National Defense (Philipp ...

. It replaced the earlier hodgepodge of cataloging systems in use. The ''

Standard Nomenclature List This is a historic (index) list of United States Army weapons and materiel, by their Standard Nomenclature List (SNL) group and individual designations — an alpha-numeric nomenclature system used in the United States Army Ordnance Corps Supply ...

'' (SNL) was created by the US Army Ordnance Corps in 1930 and was used until 1958. The ''

Ammunition Identification Code Ammunition (informally ammo) is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. Ammunition is both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines) and the component parts of other wea ...

'' (AIC) was a subset of the SNL concerning

munitions Ammunition (informally ammo) is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. Ammunition is both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines) and the component parts of other weap ...

and

explosives An explosive (or explosive material) is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An expl ...

that was used from January, 1942 to 1958. The SNL and AIC were listed in the ''Ordnance Supply Catalog'', which was managed by the US Army Ordnance Corps. The ''Quartermaster Stock Number'' (QSN), which codified items by

government contract Government procurement or public procurement is the procurement of goods, services and works on behalf of a public authority, such as a government agency. Amounting to 12 percent of global GDP in 2018, government procurement accounts for a subst ...

number, was created by the Treasury Department in 1943; it was used by the US Army Quartermaster Corps officially from 1946 to 1956. The Medical Departments of the

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

and

Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an a ...

each had their own systems as well. The first attempt at an inter-service system was the Army-Navy Munitions Board, which would procure common items for the

, and

Marine Corps Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (refle ...

. Items received the prefix "AN/" (for ''Army & Navy'') to indicate their common use (and procured items like

radios Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitt ...

and some hand-grenades still do to this day). This existed from 1940 to 1942 before falling into a deep bureaucratic hibernation until 1945. In 1946, it was renamed the Defense Munitions Board. In 1947 they created the Cataloging Agency, a subordinate entity in charge of managing the Joint Army-Navy Catalog System. The Cataloging Agency began using the Federal Stock Number system for the first time in 1949 (though not referred to as such), but the other systems were still in use. The use of a centralized system for

defense procurement Military acquisition or defense acquisition is the "bureaucratic management and procurement process", dealing with a nation's investments in the technologies, programs, and product support necessary to achieve its national security strategy and ...

and issue was approved on July 1, 1952 with the passing of the ''Defense Cataloging And Standardization Act'' (Public Law 82-436) The first comprehensive Federal Catalog, which listed items by their FSN, was created in 1957. In 1958, the Armed Forces Supply Support Center (AFSSC) was created to manage the Federal Catalog.http://olive-drab.com/od_nsn_explanation.php History of the U.S. Government National Stock Number (NSN) The Federal Stock Number was officially replaced by the

National Stock Number A NATO Stock Number, or National Stock Number (NSN) as it is known in the US, is a 13-digit numeric code used by the NATO military alliance, identifying all the 'standardized material items of supply' as they have been recognized by all member s ...

(NSN) beginning on September 30, 1974. The National Stock Number was the same number as the FSN, plus the two-digit

National Codification Bureau The National Codification Bureaus or NATO Codification Bureaux (NCB) are a NATO organization that oversees the management of the NATO Codification System (NCS). It is governed by NATO Allied Committee 135 (AC/135), with each member nation's National ...

(NCB) "Country Code" added between the FSCG code and the item code. The

US government The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a feder ...

added the code numbers "00" in the place of the NCB digits to all FSN numbers to create compliant American NSN numbers. The National Item Identification Number (NIIN) is the two-digit Country Code plus the seven-digit Item Identification Code.

Examples

References

{{Reflist

External links

FSN LookupFree Public FSN Search EngineWhat Is a National Stock Number?FED LOG Search
United States Department of Defense Military logistics of the United States Identifiers

Examples

See also

References

External links