What are the duties of the SSA?

• A. The backbone of supply operations at the retail level
• B. Ensure strategic planning
• C. Manage unit finances
• D. Direct combat operations

Answer: (A)

SSA duties center on retail-level supply operations. The Supply Support Activity is the central hub for field logistics, handling the receipt, storage, and issue of supplies to supported units at the point of use. It keeps stock accountability, processes issue requests, coordinates replenishment, and manages turn-ins, ensuring units have what they need when they need it. This retail-level focus is what makes the SSA the backbone of day-to-day supply operations, linking the larger wholesale system to the units in the field. Activities like strategic planning, managing unit finances, or directing combat operations fall to other roles and units, not the SSA.