Law Shield has learned from press reports that the Pentagon is set to destroy more than $1 billion worth of ammo. But there’s no need to do that: We’ll take it.
Of course, we’re kidding. But from the perspective of our members, it makes much more sense to give it away, or sell it, to shooters in what is one of the tightest ammo markets in recent memory. But don’t destroy it.
Citing a Government Accountability Office report and government officials, USA Today reports the Pentagon currently oversees an ammunition stockpile worth about $70 billion. Due to an inefficient reporting system, it’s impossible to know how much of “excess” ammunition could potentially be used by troops.
Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) said, “Despite years of effort, the Army, Navy and Air Force still don’t have an efficient process for doing something as basic as sharing excess bullets. This Government Accountability Office (GAO) report clearly shows that our military’s antiquated systems lead to millions of dollars in wasteful ammunition purchases.”
USA Today provides some key findings from the GAO report:
• The services have inventory systems for ammunition that cannot share data directly despite working for decades to develop a single database. Only the Army uses the standard Pentagon format; “the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps operate with formats that are obsolete.”
• The services hold an annual conference to share information about surplus ammunition and swap bullets and other munitions as needed. Data about ammunition left over after the meeting disappears from the books, resulting in an unknown amount of good bullets headed to the scrap heap.
• The Army, although required by regulation, had not reported annually on its missile stockpile until last month, shortly before the GAO study was to be released.
Law Shield supports the armed forces, but we don’t support the incredible waste this represents. You agree?
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