Navy Must Improve Its Accountability for Conventional Ammunition

Navy ammunition is stored at inland depots and at coastal outloading activities. All activities periodically report ammunition receipts, issues, expenditures, and losses to the conventional ammunition inventory management system (CAIMS). The database from this system constitutes the Navy's ammunition accountable records which are the basis for day-to-day management decisions, program planning, and budget justification. GAO completed a study of the Navy's accountability for conventional ammunition.

GAO found that CAIMS does not provide the required accountability to effectively manage sizable ammunition inventories. The Navy has been unable to reconcile its inventory records with those of the single manager for conventional ammunition. Moreover, the inventory controls necessary to maintain accountability and visibility over fleet ammunition returned to weapons stations are either weak or nonexistent. Therefore, managers rely upon data that inaccurately reflect the quantity, location, and condition of this ammunition. CAIMS still contains numerous discrepancies, in spite of a $46 million dollar unreconciled downward adjustment to align CAIMS with the single manager's inventory. On the basis of inventories made at two weapons stations, GAO could not find $7.4 million worth of ammunition shown on the accountability records. Another $1.4 million worth of ammunition was found in storage but was not on the accountable records. The backlog of ammunition awaiting inspection amounted to 776 tons at one weapons station and occupied 106 railroad cars at another; some of the ammunition stored were priority items; some items had been in storage for over 18 months. Accountability for fleet ammunition is inadequate. The Navy program to determine the condition of ammunition by inspecting it aboard ships has not been successful. Ammunition received at a weapons station for transfer to another destination is recorded in CAIMS only as intransit. Consequently, visibility is inadequate over this ammunition, and ammunition is dropped from the intransit file after 90 days.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

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