DOD Has Serious Problems With Care and Maintenance of Conventional Ammunition

Gao ID: PLRD-82-27 February 9, 1982

GAO reviewed various aspects of the military services' care and maintenance programs for conventional ammunition to determine: (1) if there are problems with the storage, preservation, and renovation of conventional ammunition; (2) how significant the problems are; and (3) what the services are doing to correct the problems.

The military services are experiencing significant problems in the storage, maintenance, and renovation of ammunition. The Army has embarked on a concentrated program involving substantial funding to alleviate what it considers a serious backlog of ammunition needing renovation. However, GAO found that the Army's estimate of the seriousness of the problem is based on an undocumented assumption as to the types and quantities of ammunition needing attention. Further, the Army's inadequate maintenance and storage facilities are causing a serious backlog of ammunition in need of maintenance in Europe. The Army does not currently have sufficient storage facilities to provide adequate protection for ammunition needed to meet long-range requirements in Europe. Additionally, the Navy's ammunition accountability is inadequate and recorded data often cannot be relied on to depict the true quantity and condition of ammunition. The Navy does not have an effective quality assurance surveillance program for inspecting its ammunition in the Pacific. The Navy's interface with the single manager for conventional ammunition is a continuing problem in regard to ammunition accountability and performance of maintenance and renovation of ammunition stored in Army facilities. The Navy's funding for ammunition maintenance and renovation has not kept pace with requirements, resulting in backlogs of needed work. Finally, the Air Force's use of open storage at its depots in Europe has caused ammunition to deteriorate faster than needed maintenance can be performed.

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.

Director: Henry W. Connor Team: General Accounting Office: Procurement, Logistics, and Readiness Division Phone: (202) 275-4141


The Justia Government Accountability Office site republishes public reports retrieved from the U.S. GAO These reports should not be considered official, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Justia.