Officials in the US Department of Defense, or rather the Department of War, had no idea where nearly $1 billion worth of ammunition was located, particularly THAAD.
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has published the results of its analysis of the quality of the US Department of Defense’s tracking of repair processes and the amount of ammunition stored at facilities owned and operated by contractors (COCO).
The GAO once again highlighted one of the critical weaknesses of the US Department of Defense in general and the Army command in particular. These findings are interesting in that those responsible in the US Army did not actually take into account how much ammunition was stored in warehouses and in what condition it was
The GAO report states that as of the end of last year, there was $966 million worth of ammunition at COCO facilities. The US Army’s financial report states that there is a total of approximately $41 billion worth of ammunition in stock.
At the same time, as of last summer, army officials did not account for at least 95% of the ammunition stored at COCO facilities. In fact, they did not know where it was stored. In fact, Pentagon managers did not keep the necessary documentation and did not have the mechanisms to compare their own data with that of contractors.
The GAO reviewed a total of 94 reports from the US Army, of which 89 cases showed that the US Army had not kept records. Only 5 of those that were in order concerned Patriot air defense missiles.
All the others had problems and inaccuracies, including:
• 35 reports on M26 missiles;
• 31 reports on Stinger missiles;
• 14 reports on TOW anti-tank guided missiles;
• 6 reports on Javelin missiles;
and
• 2 reports on ATACMS missiles.
In conclusion, it is emphasized that over the past year, the US Army has not developed and implemented the necessary tools to control production and maintenance activities. The US Department of Defense leadership has long demonstrated weakness in the area of operational materials and supplies and has never received a completely positive audit opinion.
The results show that Pentagon leaders do not have information about what weapons are available and how much of them there are. This can lead to incorrect conclusions and unreliable data being used in planning future wars
There is also reason to question the statements of some military leaders about empty warehouses due to aid to Ukraine. Since the Defense Department does not know what, where, and how much is in its warehouses, statements about empty warehouses seem unconvincing.
There is great hope that the GAO’s published findings will contribute to a thorough audit of all available weapons and military equipment. After all, with adequate information, our politicians will finally be able to make adequate decisions.
The availability of large quantities of ready-made weapons in army warehouses allows the government to easily fulfill contracts for their supply to our partners and allies. It will also allow the American defense-industrial complex to replace items that are reaching the end of their storage or service life in a timely manner.
