Military Small Arms Management

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Army's efforts to improve internal controls over small arms parts, focusing on the extent to which small arms are lost or stolen at two selected Army facilities. GAO noted that: (1) in response to GAO recommendations, the Army created a Small Arms Task Force to address inventory and physical control weaknesses over small arms parts; (2) the Task Force has expanded its scope to cover small arms, ammunition, and explosives; (3) the Task Force continues to meet quarterly to monitor the Army's progress in implementing its business action plan; (4) the Army appears to be taking reasonable steps to identify and address internal control weaknesses over both small arms and small arms parts; (5) although the Army's reported small arms losses are not extensive relative to the total small arms inventory, they remain a concern; (6) between 1990 and 1993, less than 250 small arms were reported lost, missing, or stolen; (7) federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies reported that few, if any, military small arms have been encountered during their investigative work; and (8) small arms thefts and losses at the two Army facilities reviewed were minimal.