As of September 30, 1994, the total stockpile of usable and unusable ammunition was worth about $80 billion. This excess amount includes about $22 billion worth of ammunition that was still usable. While there are shortages of some specific ammunition types, overall, the services generally have enough ammunition to meet their wartime and peacetime requirements. Moreover, in fiscal years 1993 and 1994, the services spent about $125 million for ammunition that exceeded fiscal year 1995 stated requirements. 2.1). Services Store Ammunition for Weapon Systems No Longer in Their Inventories

Ammunition is being stored and managed for weapon systems that either have been purged or are no longer in the active inventory. Problems With Ammunition Stockpile Management Threaten Readiness, and the Single Manager’s Plan for Improvement Has Been Delayed

Increases in the wholesale ammunition stockpile due to returns of massive amounts of munitions from Europe and Operation Desert Storm, combined with a decrease in the wholesale stockpile’s workforce, have created a situation that could, if allowed to continue, degrade the forces’ readiness to meet wartime and peacetime needs. Condition of the Stockpile Is Significantly Impaired

Because of the vast influx of ammunition from overseas in recent years and decreases in storage space, funding, and staff, the ability of the single manager to manage the stockpile has been taxed. 3.1). 3.5). 3.6). 3.7). 3.8). This $31 billion of usable and unusable ammunition, as well as $2.9 billion of excess ammunition that was on the single manager’s inventory records but not the services’ inventory records, was being treated by the single manager as necessary to meet requirements. Possible changes in ammunition management, include requiring the services to pay the single manager a fee for storing their ammunition; using excess ammunition in training; authorizing the single manager to own, manage, and control the wholesale stockpile and/or have visibility of the services’ retail stocks and total requirements so the manager can identify ammunition excess to stated requirements and coordinate redistribution of it to services that need the ammunition or dispose of it; and requiring the services to include the cost to dispose of excess ammunition in their budgets for new ammunition.
Why GAO Did This Study

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the status of the Department of Defense's (DOD) ammunition stockpile, focusing on: (1) the amount of excess ammunition in the stockpile; and (2) problems related to the stockpile's management.

What GAO Found

GAO found that: (1) of the $80 billion in usable and unusable ammunition as of September 1994, about $31 billion was excess ammunition and about $22 billion was ammunition that was still usable; (2) the excess in usable ammunition is primarily due to the collapse of the Soviet Union and reduced U.S. military requirements; (3) while shortages of some specific ammunition types exist, the services generally have inventories that exceed their wartime and peacetime requirements; (4) in 1993 and 1994, the services spent about $125 million for ammunition that exceeded their fiscal year 1995 requirements; (5) the services have stored and continue to manage significant amounts of ammunition for weapons that are no longer in the active inventory; (6) increases in the ammunition stockpile and decreases in budget, workforce, and storage space could degrade the forces' readiness to meet wartime and peacetime needs; (7) DOD has not been able to conduct adequate ammunition testing and inspections to ensure the stockpile's usability and readiness; (8) DOD does not know the extent of excess ammunition stored at the services facilities; and (9) the ammunition stockpile will continue to grow until the services are given incentives to relinquish ownership of the ammunition and the single manager is provided with the funding and information necessary to expedite ammunition disposal.