Pentagon to destroy 1 billion worth of ammo...while the DHS and IRS arm themselves...why?

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Now, some of it could be outdated but based on the current system in place they would not know.

You really have to wonder why, according to USA Today, “The Pentagon plans to destroy more than $1 billion worth of ammunition although some of those bullets and missiles could still be used by troops, according to the Pentagon and congressional sources. It’s impossible to know what portion of the arsenal slated for destruction — valued at $1.2 billion by the Pentagon — remains viable because the Defense Department’s inventory systems can’t share data effectively, according to a Government Accountability Office report obtained by USA TODAY. The result: potential waste of unknown value.”
Read more at allenbwest.com...

Why is it not offered to civilians? This is pure and simple waste if nothing else...or is it something else?

a reply to: matafuchs

It's to be just 'destroyed'?

As you suggested, offer it to civilians. For a start, they would offer to pay for it, which would recoup some of the money spend on the munitions in the first place, and it would also allow the Pentagon to track who was purchasing it - which we all know they like to do.

The question is, how much of these munitions will actually be 'destroyed', or how much will be marked up as destroyed, but find its way onto the black market. You can bet that the munition destruction will be contracted out to a privately operated organisation, and then there's no proper oversight of the destruction.... it's almost a car crash in slow motion waiting to happen.

If the ammo was stored at ambient temps, and not contaminated by moisture, it is still viable.

My guess would be it has been compromised somehow during storage- or our government has absolutely no ability to handle ammo, let alone the workings of a country.

I've heard of people using ammo from WWII and it still is viable.

I don't think they could sell it to the public, as the liability if something were to explode or go wrong would be high...

a reply to: matafuchs
I bet it is simply to raise the price of ammo. Manufacturers don't care who buys it, they just want it sold. And the government does not care about how they spend tax dollars, as long as it gets spent.

The more it costs the leas the public buys. The more ammo that ends up in government hands or destroyed is less ammo for the public.

This makes sense if you think about it and here is why:

The way the government determines a budget is by how much in the red or black the end of the year numbers are in. If an agency or a department runs in the red, chances are they get an increase in the budget next year, but if it runs in the black, then they cut the budget for the next year.

The military submitted a budget that makes drastic cuts to it, reduction on all levels. So as a result it has to show a red to get a bigger slice of the money.

However, there is one other little detail, how old was the ammo that they destroyed? If it was say 10 to 20 years old, it would serve to reason that it would need to be destroyed as there could be a problem with it not being functional, so it would make sense to destroy it and recycle it to make new ammo, along with seeing if the military can function with less ammo. Less ammo, means less likely that it will need to get involved in a conflict.

I'm not buying it

Sounds like a good way of making it disappear

Then end up in Ukraine and Syria

Well, it is the military and one of their contractors must be short on money so maybe a couple of million dollars to dispose of the ammo will be good for the contractor. You got to understand that disposing of that ammo with all the paperwork to file will cost the government lots of money. Maybe the price of ammo boxes will come down, all that ammo is probably in nice metal boxes. I'll have to talk to the guy at the surplus military supply store and see if they are expecting any new boxes.

a reply to: matafuchs

Pentagon to destroy 1 billion worth of ammo...while the DHS and IRS arm themselves...why? - See more at: www.abovetopsecret.com...

for the same reason the US government does anything...so that a few get rich fro taxpayers money.

A cynical look at it is thus...they earmark it for decommissioning (destruction), they give the contract to their close in the pocket lackeys, they in turn sell it on to wherever the profit favors most... surely not?

Ammo does have a shelf life that varies depending on many factors.
You may have shells that are very old and shoot just fine, but if you're
the Pentagon concerned about your soldiers you replace old ammo.
It's a no-brainer. You can't have your soldiers in harms way with shoddy
equipment. Having to stop to clear bad ammo of out your full-auto
firearm during a fire fight is a life and death situation.

Imagine the headline:
Soldiers killed in action due to misfires of outdated ammo

a reply to: rival
Why not...we brits do it so well... works for us.

I have fired pre WWII 7.62X54 Russian ammo and also 8mm Mauser ammo with no issue at all. This ammo did have the dreaded corrosive primer which seems to have a shelf life of forever, but it still functioned almost flawlessly.

I'm thinking they would rather just destroy it than have to waste the time inventorying it and selling it to a distributor. Money is no object when it isn't yours.

You would think with the wars is Afghanistan and Iraq, plus selling or giving ammo to the militaries they are training would eliminate this issue. Something doesn't seem quite right here.

Because the soldiers that were not there need ammo that did not exist

hello mexico!

I am not buying the whole "destruction" of ammo thing.

I arrived to a duty station in 1997. During my first field exercise we were firing powder that was packed in the 50's. Granted it was kind of nerve racking I admit, especially handling the HE rounds LoL

Ammo lots are cycled through on a regular basis and 1.2 billion just seems excessive even by military standards.

(my point is if silk bags of powder can last 40-50 years then brass cartridges far less than 20 years old should not warrant destruction at all)

originally posted by: MystikMushroom
I've heard of people using ammo from WWII and it still is viable.

I don't think they could sell it to the public, as the liability if something were to explode or go wrong would be high...

All ammo manufacturers are required by federal law to maintain several 1,000 rounds from each lot of ammo for a period of years....20 or 25, if memory serves me correctly.
If a complaint is lodged in that time period by a customer, the lot is pulled and re-tested.
After the required number of years have passed, the inventory is re-packaged in bulk and sold to the public in 500 round bricks.
Can't speak to how other companies dispose of old inventory, but imagine in similar ways.

P.S. 'Seasoned' ammo always performed better than the recently manufactured stuff!

Zombie Holocaust is why...No endgame they plan to only pass Gun Legislation on places like Maryland for example. Disarm one State and then Release the Zombie Virus it would spread very quickly if their response time was like FEMA during Katrina. Sure - But it can spread at all if the public is fully armed and ready. They only need one state to follow the Supreme Dictation of the UN. Yes I said it. The United Nations are the ones who will play the role as Umbrella in our Future. Don't prepare for Civil War just yet...Don't believe the bullshight Alex Jones be spitting on the Air. Zombies man it's inevitable and it's no longer myth or scifi. We have all the Tech to unleash this virus and guess what all those 10000 underground bunkers in Colorado will be occupied by the Elysian like Illuminati's. They will retreat and when the Epidemic reaches Global they will bring out the cure which they already had. The UN just want you to die oh just about 6,660,000.000 of you. All over some stupid rock in the boonies written in 8 different languages. It all means the System just wants you to die not sudden, but efficiently. This is what brought you here to me. Cause you wanted to know why? Cause they're Doctrines came from Aliens. That was why Hitler did the holocaust. And that is why Obama will follow as the Poster Child of Umbrella Corps. I know what your saying that is a Resident Evil Reference Umbrella wasn't real? Oh really think about it? Than why our they contracting Weapons and Biochemicals to our Government? It's the truth don't believe it as truth cause you seen it on the internet. The Zombie Virus will be caused by Monsanto most likely or a Nano Research Flop.

The Ammo most likely will be for Darpa Terminators most likely. They waste Ammo badly cause they aren't as accurate as humans YET...keyword yet. Obama is nothing with out our UN and NATO allies. He most likely will create a False Flag WW3 Invasion. China and Russia will invade our Soil. China owns the USA if they cashed in on their Debt. Obama is simply the trojan horse. Break International Agreements force the hand of the Resistance and Enemy to America and then unleashed the Secret Weapon the Terminator Atlas Supersoldiers. Our Economy will crash. America will be weak and ammo will be scarce. The Robots will turn on us eventually. These things take orders and time. We the people know it's coming. We are being conditioned everyday to accept the Inevitable Martial Law. The day will come when the Robots revolt or always a chance of that zombie thing we talked about occuring. Just remember about all things my Country and my Freedom,my God I put first. I'm not crazy. I just think outside the box I see the premonitions of our Doom. I'm here only to inform you and try to decode my own life, your life is worth more than money. But the SYSTEM they only look at you like a Dollar Sign, like a slave, like a Sheep. Your all wolves you just might have lost your Pack. We maybe not able to stop what is coming. But at least we can say we tried. We tried to save Earth, to evolve humanity without Transhumanism the Natural order of things. Your blood will not be on my hands. I fought hard for you. I believed in my Country but I knew this Day of Judgement would come to the Wreckless Demigods.