WHEN ZFW CTLR ASSUMES DUTY; HE OBSERVES A SECTOR TFC SATURATION SIT AND IMMEDIATELY ASSUMES CTL DUTIES WITHOUT PROPER BRIEFINGS. SUPVR HAS NOT PROVIDED SUFFICIENT STAFFING FOR TFC.

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THIS SHIFT BEGINS AT XH30; BUT A 15 MIN 'FLEX' IS ALLOWED. I ARRIVED AT XH45; AND OBSERVED THE SPECIALTY COMBINED ONTO 2 POS (NORMAL) -- 2 CTLRS ON DUTY AND A SUPVR WORKING THE A-SIDE. THE LOW ALT SECTOR WAS NOT VERY BUSY; BUT DID HAVE ABOUT 10 OR SO ACFT ON FREQ. THE OTHER SECTOR; A HIGH AND LOW COMBO; WAS VERY BUSY; WITH APPROX 20+ ACFT ON FREQ. THE CTLR WAS SO BUSY HE WAS UNABLE TO KEEP UP WITH STRIP MARKING OR STRIP MGMNT. (IN FACT; THE SUPVR X CONTINUED PILING MORE AND MORE STRIPS INTO THE SECTOR.) I PLUGGED IN AS THE D-SIDE FOR ABOUT 45 MINS UNTIL TFC SUBSIDED. THE SHORT STAFFING IS A RESULT OF THE SUPVR'S FAILURE TO DO HIS JOB PROPERLY. STAFFING BTWN XH30-XI30 IS SUPPOSED TO BE 4 FPL CTLRS; 3 WORKING AT XH30 AND 1 ENDING A SHIFT AT XI30. X FAILED TO ENSURE A CTLR WAS ASSIGNED THE XA30-XI30 SHIFT; AND WHEN THE NEXT SHIFT CTLRS WERE READY TO GO HOME AT XH30 AND THE FULL STAFF WAS NOT PRESENT; FAILED TO HOLD OVER ENOUGH STAFFING TO HANDLE THE TFC. FURTHER; X VIOLATED THE RULE THAT A SUPVR IS NOT ALLOWED TO WORK THE A-SIDE WHILE THE SIC. (THIS IS NOT THE FIRST SUCH OCCASION X FAILED TO PROVIDE ADEQUATE STAFFING DURING THIS TIME FRAME; BUT THOSE OTHER DATES ARE NOT AVAILABLE). THE 4 FPL STAFFING BTWN XH30-XI30 IS A MGMNT INITIATED PLAN NEGOTIATED WITH THE UNION. THERE ARE NO KNOWN EXCEPTIONS. DURING ONE SHIFT; THE HIGH/LOW MID SECTOR WOULD HAVE LIKELY BEEN SPLIT TO 3 SECTORS WITH 5 CTLRS WORKING. X KNOWINGLY AND CARELESSLY ALLOWED THE STAFFING TO DROP TO ONE WHEN HE HAD THE RESOURCES TO PREVENT IT. HIS ACTIONS; OR INACTIONS; ARE INEXCUSABLE AND INDEFENSIBLE. BECAUSE NOTHING ADVERSE HAPPENED (AS DID ON ANOTHER SPECIALTY IN A SIMILAR SIT OPERROR); THE AGENCY WILL CLAIM IT WAS CORRECT. HINDSIGHT IS ALWAYS 20/20.