Summary: Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the New York Army National Guard's controls over small-arms parts.
GAO found that: (1) Army regulations permitted small-arms repairers to determine the repairs and parts needed, perform the repairs, inspect the results of their own work, and dispose of used parts; (2) the Army did not require accountability for repair parts after issuing them from the warehouses to the maintenance shops; (3) the Army did not document or investigate discrepancies in shop stock inventory; (4) the Army did not apply inventory accuracy standards to effectively control inexpensive small-arms parts; (5) unauthorized individuals could easily access and manipulate the Standard Army Maintenance System; (6) Army regulations did not require strict management of the repair process or strong controls over repair parts, and physical security was inadequate to protect repair parts; and (7) following the arrests of former guardsmen for theft of small-arms parts, the Guard made changes to prevent further thefts, but did not resolve the problems associated with inadequate internal controls.
