DOD Inventory

The Pentagon annually reports the amounts of its inventories of principal and secondary items in the Supply System Inventory Report. Principal items are end items that range from trucks in storage to replacement assemblies, such as aircraft circuit cards. Secondary items are consumables--items that are not repairable--and include spare and repair parts, construction materials, clothing, and medical supplies. This report provides information on the (1) categories of items that are excluded from the Supply System Inventory Report and (2) status of the military's efforts to establish a uniform system for inventory valuation.

GAO found that: (1) DOD excludes from reporting items that it does not consider to be in its supply system and have control over because the items have been issued to users; (2) for the September 1990 Supply System Inventory Report, DOD components used different methods for determining inventory values; and (3) to establish a uniform system for valuing inventory, DOD directed the military services to follow DOD Comptroller guidance for reporting in the September 1991 Supply System Inventory Report.