Summary: The Army contracted with the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in June 1996 to do a comprehensive study of the management and configuration of the ammunition industrial base, which includes both government-owned and private sector ammunition plants. The study, completed the following year, recommended several ways to address the fragmentation of management responsibilities and accountability as well as the inefficiencies that affect the industrial base. The budget for conventional ammunition programs was about $2 billion in fiscal year 1999. This report reviews the Army's implementation of the study's recommendations. GAO assesses the Army's (1) progress toward reorganizing the management of conventional ammunition to address the fragmentation issues and (2) efforts to improve business practices to enhance the efficiency of ammunition production and procurement. This is the first in a series of GAO reports that will address such issues as demilitarization, capacity utilization, and the storage of conventional ammunition.
