Original Date: 02/24/1997
Revision Date: 04/14/2003

The new stratification process allows all U.S. military services to review Army assets in excess, economic retention, and contingency stock for potential cross leveling. This can preclude redundant purchases by the services. This system has continued to evolve over the last twenty-five yearsfrom a manual system, to a main frame computer system, to the current personal computer-based operation. Improvements were prompted by the continuing DoD downsizing and/or review of the DoD ammunition stockpile by the GAO in 1996.

The improved stratification system will incrementally provide other services the ability to cross level munition stocks from Army assets. Coordination between Headquarters Department of the Army, Army Material Command, and the IOC to form a joint management review of asset posture is a cornerstone of this effort. As these reviews continue to reflect real world item management concerns, they will undoubtedly prove valuable to DoD ammunition management. The creation of the Ammunition Management Improvement Coordination Committee by DoD should encourage other services to follow the Army’s lead in development of visible ammunition databases.

Earlier phases of the system allowed stove pipe purchases and stockpiling. This added substantial DoD excesses in ammunition procurement. Deletion of weapons systems by item managers, with minimal coordination of ammunition purchasing activity, adds to a lack of communication between services.

Although the Army is the recognized leader in the development of asset visibility, there are concerns about bridging between classified and unclassified systems in identifying requirements. The meshing of multiple databases within the Army and from the other services will continue to be challenging. The collation of these sources must take place for a true picture of asset accountability and visibility to be a reality.

For more information see the Point of Contact for this survey.