Summary

GAO reviewed the accountability over inventory and equipment of the Army's 24th Infantry Division. GAO found that: (1) after conducting small arms physical inventory counts at 20 of the unit's arms rooms, division personnel could not locate four M16 rifles and four semi-automatic pistols recorded on its property books; (2) the division later found three of the pistols in the division and discovered that it had transferred the fourth pistol to another depot, but it did not satisfactorily resolve discrepancies relating to the four rifles; (3) the division did not always add small arms to inventory records in accordance with required procedures, causing lost or stolen property to go undetected; and (4) failure to record weapons in property books upon receipt as required precluded maintaining effective accountability and control over small arms.