The Pentagon is set to destroy more than $1 billion worth of ammunition, according to a report obtained by USA Today.
Much of the ammunition expected to be destroyed by the Pentagon, however, could possibly still be used by troops. Although, the exact amount is unknown because the Defense Department’s inventory operation does not share data on its ammunition efficiently, according to a Government Accountability Office report obtained by USA Today.
That news comes a year after the Department of Homeland Security was expected to purchase more than 1.6 billion rounds of ammunition in the coming years. The large purchase of ammunition had many citizens worrying the government was trying to win the “arms race.”
However, much of the ammunition was intended to be purchased over a four or five-year period for the training of its agents and other law enforcement agencies. The Pentagon manages a stockpile of conventional ammunition worth $70 billion, USA Today reports.
“There is a huge opportunity to save millions, if not billions of dollars if the (Pentagon) can make some common-sense improvement to how it manages ammunition,” Sen. Tom Carper, chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, told USA Today.
The report detailed many inefficiencies with the government’s inventory system, including requests agencies make for ammunition. In some instances, the requesting agency was required to email the Army, which then had to print out the request and retype the info into the Army system because the agencies do not share data.
“We simply cannot afford this type of waste and ineffectiveness,” Carper added.