The Marine Corps is reinforcing its security around weapons, ammunition and explosives storage after government watchdog audits found that annual inspections were “not conducted or completed” in accordance with military policy, according to a force-wide message released on Thursday.

The message tasked commanders with adhering to annual physical inspections of sensitive weapon and ammunition stores, formally training Marines in keeping said stores safe from theft or loss alongside military police, and documenting any security shortfalls — to include any missing items — within 90 days of a site survey.

While the message did not specify which Government Accountability Office (GAO) reports found that inspections were not meeting Pentagon or Marine Corps standards, a 2018 GAO report urged the military to enhance its security at “high-risk” ammunition storage locations. It said that some inspections were not completed on time, and that the services were not documenting how security deficiencies were being resolved.

In 2021, the Associated Press investigated how nearly 2,000 military weapons were lost or stolen over the previous decade, with some being used in violent crimes around the country. It found that machine guns, pistols, shotguns, and rifles had gone missing from armories from each service and even some vanished military explosives popped up around the civilian world. 

The investigation shocked senior military leaders at the time, causing the Pentagon to change how it kept track of weapons and ordnance as lawmakers mandated the military report annual losses and security measures to Congress, the Associated Press later reported.

The new Marine Corps message referenced the annual report to Congress, which requires the Secretary of Defense to submit information to lawmakers about security, thefts, losses, and the recovery of weapons, ranging from M4s to more archaic weapon systems, like flame throwers (though there was no evidence Task & Purpose could find to suggest that any of those have gone missing.)

Trained Marine “physical security specialists” are required to conduct annual physical security surveys on time, and any lapses in their completion will result in notification to the first general officer in the unit’s chain of command, according to the message.

In general, the surveys or missing weapons reports are required to be submitted for review by the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security, so it can then be turned over to Congress.

“Failure to meet the requirements of the references and this message will be documented in the annual report” to the Pentagon “and may lead to further administrative actions,” the message warned.

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