Summary

In response to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Army's inventory management to determine its effectiveness and the adequacy of inventories' physical security.

GAO found that the Army: (1) was not fully aware of the extent of inventory inaccuracies existing at the wholesale and retail levels, or what the inaccuracies represented in terms of dollar value or quantity of items; (2) failed to make the necessary physical inventories before making record adjustments when it found variances; (3) failed to identify systematic problem areas and their underlying causes; (4) had poor physical security for safeguarding inventories from theft or misappropriation at some facilities; and (5) failed to develop or report corrective actions because of internal control weaknesses.