210: Battle Force Intermediate Maintenance Activity (BFIMA) System

References:
[a] CINCPACFLTINST 4700.9/CINCLANTFLTINST 4700.11, Maintenance Policy for Battle Force Intermediate Maintenance Activities (BFIMA)

210.1.1 Discuss the function and organization of Battle Force Intermediate Maintenance Activity (BFIMA).

The Aircraft Carrier is the central figure in today's Naval Battle Group. All other ships, steaming as members of this battle group, serve the carrier in some capacity. Cruisers provide AAW support; Frigates provide USW support; and Destroyers provide Surface support. In turn, Oilers and Combat Stores ships provide logistic support.
Repair of the numerous weapons systems on these "picket" ships have, in the past, been performed by technicians on these ships. Due mostly to space limitations, a sufficient stock of repair parts were rarely maintained. For this reason, the Fleet Repair Ships (ARs, ADs, and ASs) were constructed to operate in the rear echelon of the battle force. This has worked, as long as the picket ship has had the operational "stand down" time available to conduct a restricted availability period with the appropriate Tender.
The BFIMA (pronounced "BIF-IM-UH") is a concept developed whereby repair capabilities for these smaller ships would be placed onto the carrier, and where Tradesmen for these repair requirements would billeted in to the AIMD. AIMD lies at the heart of the BFIMA concept, with the required technicians and systems experts assigned to AIMD. In the BFIMA concept, the AIMD Officer would serve as the Battle Force Maintenance Officer. The concept would require that all ships systems (RADAR, Computer Systems, etc), for which a maintenance action may be expected, be identified, and the proper level of repair parts be stored on the carrier in the event that they're required. This is similar to determining AIMD's AVCAL requirements, based on the load-out of assigned CVW aircraft, and ensuring that S-6 is stocked accordingly.
An example of the BFIMA concept at work would be on an FFG with a CIWS that is down due to a faulty power supply. On the FFG, the Fire Control Technician would replace the entire power supply, vice troubleshooting the Power Supply himself - a potentially time consuming task. In this manner, the CIWS would be quickly returned to a Mission Ready status. The faulty Power Supply, in turn, would be shipped to the Carrier for repair, and subsequent return to the Supply "pool". This is nothing more than the NAMP�s O- and I-level concepts at work on a larger scale.
The following is an excerpt from CINCLANFTLINST 4700.11 - �The BFIMA is composed of the collective Battle Force elements capable of performing maintenance beyond the organizational level. The function of the BFIMA is to maximize the Battle Force�s ability to operate and sustain itself at sea through improved repair capabilities and material self-sufficiency and strengthen Battle Force material readiness to conduct Navy/joint/combined operations from the sea.
Each Battle Force will establish a BFIMA organization to take maximum advantage of the total capabilities of the Force. The Amphibious Readiness Group IMA (ARGIMA) is intended to function as an independent entity when the ARG is detached from the carrier Battle Force.�


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