The Pentagon plans to destroy more than $1 billion worth of ammunition although some of those bullets and missiles could still be used by troops, according to the Pentagon and congressional sources.
It's impossible to know what portion of the arsenal slated for destruction — valued at $1.2 billion by the Pentagon — remains viable because the Defense Department's inventory systems can't share data effectively, according to a Government Accountability Office report obtained by USA TODAY. ... Other key findings from the 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.
So on one hand, domestic military units (DHS, SSA, IRS, etc.) are buying ammo by the billions while the Pentagon is destroying ammo by the billions without really knowing how much they have.
Originally posted by Jake_Dragon: Isn't that money laundering?
Rhetorical question? Yes it is. And it would be illegal by any company except the government. Imagine being paid $100,000 to wire a large building, your supplies are billable back to the customer, you are allowed a 5% return on parts purchased. You decide that you "need" more money to do the job so, you double up on the purchase of everything you will install. If you return, sell or, throw away all the extra parts, you keep the extra 5%. Get caught, you are going to jail.
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."
Seems to be an issue that has been ignored for quite some time.
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."
I wonder if they have the same company working on the database for their ammunition inventory systems as they do for your wonder Obamacare website. Oh well, what's a billion dollars? It's not like it's real money or anything - just fire up the presses and print off more!
I wonder if they have the same company working on the database for their ammunition inventory systems as they do for your wonder Obamacare website. Oh well, what's a billion dollars? It's not like it's real money or anything - just fire up the presses and print off more!
I was wondering if the same company that keeps the data base is the same one getting paid millions to re-sell (I mean destroy) the ammunition?
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 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.
[This message has been edited by newf (edited 04-30-2014).]
How can it be 0bama's fault when 0bama has no clue what's going on in his own administration? Maybe it is a stretch for the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces to be held accountable for the people under his command. He's already cleaned house at the highest levels of his military command. I wonder if any of his new Generals have done anything? The problem certainly pre-dated the 0bamanation so he has an excuse, and in the end that's really all that matters.
[This message has been edited by Formula88 (edited 04-30-2014).]
so you guys want cheap free ammo ? ie welfare for gun-nuts?
or the troops to use out-dated ammo ?
or just hate so much it must be obama's fault if the military is screwed up as normal or a SNAFU
Actually, I'd prefer the branches know how much they have so they can reallocate it rather than destroying it. Is that so hard?
I certainly don't want troops using "out-dated" ammo, but I have a hard time beliving much of that ammo is so old to be unusable. Still, even if they have a short shelf life policy, it would make more sense to sell out of date surplus ammo rather than destroy it. You can either pay for the ammo, then pay more to destroy it, or possibly recoup some of the cost by selling it as surplus.
The bigger issue is one department buying huge quantities of ammo while others are destroying surplus. For anyone wanting to reduce government waste - there's an opportunity right there.
No. The government should be obligated to sell to the public any surplus items that are not dangerous by design(nuke stuff, biowarfare stuff). Back in the late 40s, threw the 70s, all kinds of stuff was for sale to the public.
Yes, like that russian stuff that won't shoot in one of those ancient Mosin Nagant rifles.
DING DING we have a winner i wounder how many millions have been made selling SURPLUS 80 YEAR OLD AMMO AND GUNS . but in america our ammo goes bad in 4 weeks we keep a block of chesse next to it when that is moldy we throw the ammo away . WHAT KILLS ME they dont have any idea how much they have BUT THEY KNOW WHAT IS BAD AND WHAT IS GOOD ?
[This message has been edited by fierobrian (edited 04-30-2014).]
I hear Obuma has a plan to give guns and ammo to underprivileged minorities and illegal immigrants to 'defend' themselves against white hispanics (like Zimmerman). All you need is documentation that you got a free phone from the administration....
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