14,000 rounds of 5.56 ammunition missing from Ft. Bragg

That's alot of rounds to simply walk off with. Was this a) an accounting error; b) someone profiteering from a poorly managed system; or, c) something more sinister?

source

Soldiers probably thought that it wouldn't be missed, and walked off with it. Problem is, I think they lock down and inventory everything in this instance. Therefore, no one on base may leave until every round is accounted for? Seems like a false flag safety alert for the base?!

reply to post by jtma508


I don't think that's a lot of ammo. I have friends with more than that in their apartment closets, LOL!

That is 14 ammo cans, or probably about 1 case of ammo cans. Easy accounting error, or easy pilferage from a supply clerk. I don't think it is anything nefarious.

reply to post by getreadyalready


Maybe... but that's about a standard load-out for an entire platoon.

Did you read this comment on the website you linked?

Another black eye for mid-level Army leadership or the lack there-of! What an embarrassement hopefully there isn't some PTSD nut out there on the loose with 14,000 rounds in his pick up truck just waiting for the right time to take down another Ihop/Walmart/ mass ceremony for 9/11! Some one should be getting relieved already!

He has a very good point!

Even when I was in the military a long time ago; pilferage of everything from ace bandages to lawnmowers to px booze was rampant; both by civilian employees and military personnel. Our tax dollars at work

It happens much more than the military will ever admit. It's usually just passed off as a clerical error.

reply to post by jtma508


Maybe the fast and furious gang forgot to include the bullets with the guns they shipped across the border to their Cartel friends. IF billions of dollars just walked off on its way to Iraq what is a few thousand rounds.

Originally posted by sheepslayer247
Did you read this comment on the website you linked?

Another black eye for mid-level Army leadership or the lack there-of! What an embarrassement hopefully there isn't some PTSD nut out there on the loose with 14,000 rounds in his pick up truck just waiting for the right time to take down another Ihop/Walmart/ mass ceremony for 9/11! Some one should be getting relieved already!

He has a very good point!

If everybody was armed (I have my .380 in the small of my back right this second), then it wouldn't matter how many rounds a nut had, he could only get a few off before being taken out.

The more average people that get trained, and safely carry their guns, the less tragedies will occur. The shooting was terrible, but there was one guy that could have stopped it ahead of time, and there were several about to end it when the shooter decided to shoot himself. It didn't matter if he had 14 rounds or 14,000 rounds, he got off a few, and there were some unfortunate deaths, but he was doomed from the start, and he wasn't going to get off any more rounds.

I am getting annoyed by all of the "If you see something, say something" signs in my state, but they do remind us to be vigilant.

Be prepared, be vigilant, be responsible, and be willing to defend one another. If we can all do that, then we can collectively stop these crazies in their tracks. Of course, there will always be sporadic tragedies, but nothing the size of Columbine, or Va Tech, or Norway. Those types of tragedies can't happen if we have enough armed civilians ready to take action.

Or a bunch of bored troops grabbed a few cases and went out to the firing range on a Saturday night to blow off some steam by shooting up some various objects they could drag up, and they forgot (or didn’t have the authority) to sign the stuff out.

14k rounds is just 20 cans. There is people around here that have got way more than that.

I'd say clerical error...added an extra 0 somewhere

I kinda feel sorry for the NCO who is gonna get his head chewed off for this one. Unless he's the one who stole the ammo (and likely resold for his own profit - it happens).

This isn't a huge cache of ammo and it isn't that rare for "shrinkage" to occur with military supplies. Maybe CNN is taking a news item that isn't very significant and drumming up the fear?

More "dangerous, middle class white people with guns!" "Oh No!"

14,000 rounds? I would be more concerned if the number was more like 140,000. 14k rounds is not very many if you take into consideration that at the local shoots each participant generally goes through 500 rounds per shoot. at 14k rounds that's only 28 participants, which is average.
I wouldn't put too much thought into this very minor accounting error. I would worry more about the larger missing items as opposed to around $3500 worth of ammo.

reply to post by getreadyalready



I agree, but we are clearly not even close to having the population armed, informed and watchful over their neighborhoods. They are too busy watching football and other mindless garbage than paying attention to their rights.

reply to post by jtma508


All of the above.

My bet, is that a firing range rotation was simply not recorded properly. A platoon or two in training decided to do a follow-up on the firing range, or went with another platoon and it wasn't on the books. Just an over-zealous lieutenant or staff sergeant that pulled his/her soldiers out of the bunks on a Saturday to go shooting instead of doing PT. I've seen it a lot.

So they shoot through 14,000 rounds (it's not that many really) and clerks think it's 'missing' because they amateurishly cross-check their supplies with an event schedule (also seen it a lot), and when there isn't one, then it never happened, and supplies are now 'missing'.

I know this seems like a long-shot, because even I think it sounds quite nutty.. but, I find it quite strange that this happened so close to the tenth anniversary of 9/11. Yes, I know, any other time of the year, this coincidence would be meaningless, BUT HEAR.. well READ ME OUT!!

Someone said 14,000 rounds is 500 rounds for 28 people.. well, okay so math also says that (DOY -.-; ) - - but what they said was that 500 rounds is what the average person shoots per outing at a range. 28 armed people is not exactly a small number when the general public is UNarmed.

Next, the government is going on about this "credible threat" on 9/11's 10th anniversary. Yes I know, they are saying they believe it's a vehicular bomb/explosive, but the ammo could be to arm themselves[attackers] otherwise. They believe this possible attack will take place in New York/Washington.

What ties this together is that they believe there are already terrorists in the U.S. that flew over last week. Well, they sure as hell couldn't bring any ammo with them on the planes. THIS AMMO IS ALREADY IN THE U.S. - - It has gone missing from a military base in North Carolina. I'm Canadian and even I know that North Carolina is not a long travel from New York or Washington. Maybe something to consider and keep an eye on?

Just some thinking out loud.

reply to post by HiMyNameIsMike


It is much easier to buy 14,000 rounds than it is to steal it from a military base.

There is a Gun Show in my town today, and there will be dozens of people leaving there with 1000s of rounds of ammunition. In Florida, we have a Concealed Weapons Permit, and if you have one, you can buy your weapon and walk out with it the same day. Just across the border into Georgia is Georgia Arms. They will be present at the show, and I've seen people buy 3000-5000 rounds and walk out to their car with it.

It seems the press and government would like to convince us that all terrorists are morons and they insist on doing things the hard way, but I have a hard time believing it. Why risk a theft and an alert, when you could just as easily split up and buy it legally?

Originally posted by HiMyNameIsMike
I know this seems like a long-shot, because even I think it sounds quite nutty.. but, I find it quite strange that this happened so close to the tenth anniversary of 9/11. Yes, I know, any other time of the year, this coincidence would be meaningless, BUT HEAR.. well READ ME OUT!!

Someone said 14,000 rounds is 500 rounds for 28 people.. well, okay so math also says that (DOY -.-; ) - - but what they said was that 500 rounds is what the average person shoots per outing at a range. 28 armed people is not exactly a small number when the general public is UNarmed.

Next, the government is going on about this "credible threat" on 9/11's 10th anniversary. Yes I know, they are saying they believe it's a vehicular bomb/explosive, but the ammo could be to arm themselves[attackers] otherwise. They believe this possible attack will take place in New York/Washington.

What ties this together is that they believe there are already terrorists in the U.S. that flew over last week. Well, they sure as hell couldn't bring any ammo with them on the planes. THIS AMMO IS ALREADY IN THE U.S. - - It has gone missing from a military base in North Carolina. I'm Canadian and even I know that North Carolina is not a long travel from New York or Washington. Maybe something to consider and keep an eye on?

Just some thinking out loud.

I understand what your saying here, but if your going to "covertly" set up some sort of attack, then why steal it? Ammo is not hard to come by these days, like it was a few years ago. You can walk into just about any shop and pick up 1k rounds without anyone even giving it a second thought. I mean hell Gander Mountain has a deal right now where you can buy 1k rounds of American Eagle Tactical .223 for $300, and it even comes conveniently stored in a sealed military grade ammo can. This would draw much less attention than say just straight up stealing the ammo.

As someone already said, it's much easier to buy .223 rds from Wal-Mart and other stores than it is to "steal" it from a military installation. This has nothing to do with any sort of "secret terrorist plot", people. There are virtually no bans, restrictions or checks on purchasing ammunition.

Maybe if the story included, "14,000 rounds, 20 rifles, a crate of live grenades and explosives".

14,000 rounds of 5.56 ammunition missing from Ft. Bragg

HA! you should have seen the amount of 5.56 my grandpa took from Fort Lewis .. Bases have so many bullets they can not keep track of them.

Edit to add, my grandpa also made off with some agent orange to kill his blackberry vine infestation. lol.