Physical Security

GAO reviewed the Department of Defense's (DOD) physical security and internal inventory control practices over Navy conventional ammunition and explosives stored at two Navy depots and two North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) depots in Europe.

GAO found that: (1) one Navy and one NATO depot lacked the required intrusion alarms or guard force surveillance over sensitive missiles; (2) one Navy and two NATO depots had bunkers, doors, or locks that did not meet U.S. specifications; (3) one NATO depot had no bunker lighting and two Navy depots lacked lighting over some bunkers; (4) there were fencing deviations at one Navy and two NATO depots; (5) two Navy depots had unattended ammunition in outdoor storage areas within their perimeters; (6) one Navy and one NATO depot did not inventory highly sensitive munitions semiannually, as required; and (7) one NATO depot did not conduct the required annual inventories. GAO also found that: (1) although NATO agreements stipulated that the host nation should provide physical security according to its security standards, the Navy used its standards for its periodic inspections; (2) the Navy did not know and was unable to provide host nation security standards for conventional ammunition; and (3) the Navy planned to expand its physical security assessments to include evaluations of security at NATO depots.