Property often has components, which require component hand receipts for accountability. Copies of these hand receipts are available from the unit's supply section, property book office (PBO), or the primary, sub, and end-user hand receipt holders. FLOs should ask for hand receipts from the unit's supply section before reaching out to other parties. Commanders must conduct inventories for changes of command, changes of hand receipt holder, cyclic accountability, sensitive-item accountability, and when units conduct field exercises or deploy. Not conducting required inventories increases the likelihood of a finding of negligence due to poor accountability. Command responsibility obligates unit commanders to ensure the property in their command is properly used, cared for, and kept safe. Commanders cannot delegate command responsibility. Evan M. FitzGerald was a Quartermaster Officer and a platoon leader, support operations officer, and executive officer, assigned to the Regimental Support Squadron, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment at Fort Irwin. He is now a practicing attorney and holds a J.D. from the University of Massachusetts School of Law, and an LL.M. in Transnational Law from Temple University.

Direct responsibility obligates a person to ensure property they signed for is properly used, cared for, and kept safe.The commander and supply section should maintain copies of all property-related actions in both their offices and residences and keep this documentation for at least two years after a change of hand receipt holder inventory. FLOs look for four elements in a FLIPL: responsibility, negligence, proximate cause, and loss. Negligence, arguably the most important, must be present before a hand receipt holder can be liable for property loss. FLOs submit the completed FLIPL to the JAG office, which performs a legal review to confirm or refute findings of all four elements. Hand receipt holders, FLOs, and JAGs can benefit from understanding what types of evidence supports the four elements of a FLIPL. Financial Liability Investigation of Property Loss, or FLIPL, is the procedure the Army uses to recover the cost of lost or damaged property. Under Army Regulation 735-5, financial liability ordinarily will not exceed one month?'s base pay. However, in certain cases, such as the loss of personal arms or equipment, or damage to government housing, a Soldier can be held liable for the entire loss. Supervisory responsibility obligates supervisors to ensure that property issued to subordinates is properly used and cared for. Supervisory responsibility arises through an assignment to a supervisory position and is not contingent on signed receipts or responsibility statements. Field exercise inventories should take place within 15 days of the end of an exercise. These inventories should also occur before and after deployments. This inventory should trigger component hand receipt updates.

Next, the appointing authority forwards the FLIPL, along with their recommendation, to the approving authority, usually a colonel or above. The approving authority approves or disapproves the recommendation to assess liability, but before making the decision, he or she receives a legal opinion that the findings and recommendations are legally sufficient and that the FLIPL was completed in accordance with AR 735-5. Nonexpendable property includes all non-consumable major end items. Nonexpendable property has an ARC of "N." All BII and COEI should be laid out according to its TM, supply catalog, or respective item listing. In the event there are similar end items, all component layouts occur simultaneously. Only inventories for items that can be physically touched occur; relying on the word of another person is not a legal defense to negligence.The FLO's job is to determine if negligence is involved, who caused the property loss, and the amount of the loss," explained Daniel Haws, attorney-advisor, Administrative Law Division, Staff Judge Advocate Office. "If the FLO recommends liability against a Soldier, that individual has seven days to submit a rebuttal explaining why the liability is not appropriate based on the standards for FLIPL." Change of hand receipt holder inventories often occur at the platoon and squad levels. The incoming platoon leader or noncommissioned officer (NCO) inventories all property signed down to them from the commander. The incoming sub-hand receipt holder is responsible for ensuring 100 percent accountability of all items, including BII and COEI. Army-issued equipment such as the helmet and pair of boots pictured can result in a Soldier's financial liability if not returned properly. Lost, damaged or stolen Army property can be subject to Financial Liability Investigation of Property Loss, th... The purpose of the pen and paper is to record notes about property. The serial number, date of inventory, and any issues must be recorded. This information is used to correct deficiencies through administrative adjustment reports that list the issues and deficiencies identified with property during an inventory. Inventory schedules must cover inventories of all property on every hand receipt and any property not currently on a hand receipt. The commander is usually responsible for at least two primary hand receipts: the unit property book and installation property book property. There may also be central issue facility, department of public works, or training and support center hand receipts.

If the Soldier does not contest liability they may voluntarily sign a Department of Defense Form 362, or Statement of Charges/Cash Collection Voucher. While DD Form 362 is an admission of liability for the lost or damaged property and an agreement to pay for it, the Army uses FLIPLs in situations where responsibility for the loss is in question, or where the amount to be charged is in dispute. Follow your unit's inventory and supply procedures. The supply policies are there to prevent property from getting lost. Before a FLIPL investigation begins, SJAs provide FLOs with a legal briefing. Responsibility and its differing types and applications must be presented in the briefing. The SJA also briefs the FLOs on the different types of property and how to identify the property on a hand receipt. SJAs should remember to brief FLOs on required inventories and how these inventories appear on component hand receipts. The FLO must include evidence that an inventory occurred properly or improperly. The FLO should obtain a copy of the change of command inventory schedule. The FLO must also obtain a copy of the relevant component listings for any lost, missing, or damaged equipment. However, the most important evidence the FLO must obtain is anything developed by the hand receipt holders during the inventory process. These documents include all relevant administrative adjustment reports and any photographic evidence.

The FLO should include evidence of who is responsible in the FLIPL process. These documents can take the form of relevant primary and sub-hand receipts. The primary hand receipt holder is usually the company commander. Sub-hand receipt holders are responsible for a portion of the commander's hand receipt. This responsibility is further delegable from sub-hand receipt holders to the end users. In addition to counseling sub-hand receipt holders, the unit commander should not sign primary hand receipts until all sub-hand receipt holders have signed their hand receipts. This ensures that all property is assigned and reduces the threats of liability and negligence. Both FLOs and SJAs need to understand the definitions of several different aspects of Army property, beginning with the types of responsibility. There are five types of responsibility used to determine who is responsible for the loss, destruction, or damage to government property: command, supervisory, direct, custodial, and personal. UPDATED PUBLICATIONS. The supply section should have the most recent TMs and supply catalog publications on hand during the inventory. To find the most recent publications, the supply section looks at the primary hand receipt, obtains the relevant NSN, NIIN, or LIN for the property, and looks them up in GCSS-Army. When Army property is lost or damaged, financial responsibility can fall upon the Soldier or Civilian to whom the property was issued.

Custodial responsibility obligates a person to ensure property in storage and awaiting issue or turn-in is cared for and kept safe. Custodial responsibility often results from a supply assignment. A LIN is a six-character alphanumeric identification code for generic nomenclature and pertains to the listing line on which the generic nomenclature appears in bulletins and Army equipment authorization documents. LINs treat all NSN items possessing the functional capability expressed by the generic nomenclature collectively. For example, one LIN may cover all mechanics' tool kits, another heavy equipment transports, and a third M4 rifles. PBOs use LINs to identify equipment commanders will inventory during a cyclic inventory. Expendable property loses its identity through its use. Expendable property requires accountability only if it is authorized by a modified table of organization and equipment or table of distribution and allowances. All other expendable property generally is considered as consumed in use. An example of consumed in use expendable property is masking tape. Conversely, all munitions require accountability on property book records. Expendable property has an ARC of "X."For more information about property accountability, the unit S-4, G-4, and PBO can provide assistance. Army Regulation 735-5, Policies and Procedures for Property Accountability; Army Regulation 710-2, Supply Policy Below the National Level; and Department of the Army Pamphlet 710-2-1, Using Unit Supply System (Manual Procedures), are also good resources. The FLO's resource is Department of the Army Pamphlet 735-5, Property Accountability Procedures and Financial Liability Officer's Guide.