AWOL Weapons

FILE - In this July 13, 2017, image provided by the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command on Feb. 9, 2021, a storage container of explosive ordnance shows signs of theft after arriving at the Letterkenny Army Depot in Chambersburg, Pa. An ammunition canister containing 32 rounds of 40mm M430A1 grenades, property of the U.S. Marine Corps, was missing. (U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command via AP, File)

New reforms target US military’s missing weapons problem

The Department of Defense is overhauling how it keeps track of its guns and explosives, and Congress is requiring more accountability from the Pentagon -- responses to an Associated Press investigation that showed lost or stolen military weapons were reaching America’s streets.
 
(AP Illustration/Peter Hamlin)

How brothers in arms plotted theft, sale of US Army weaponry

 
A photo showing a block of TNT as Marines train in the background at Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, North Carolina. (U.S. Marine Corps via AP)

Takeaways: AP investigates missing US military explosives

 
A photo illustration combining a defendant’s written statement in the case of explosives he stole from Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, evidence photos of fragmentation grenades, evidence photos of C4 explosives, document exemption blocks, and a screen capture of an explosion from a generic demolition exercise video. (AP Illustration)

AP: US military explosives vanish, emerge in civilian world

 
FILE - This evidence photo from the criminal complaint of the U.S. District Court for Massachusetts v. Ashley Bigsbee for illegal possession of a stolen firearm on Nov. 15, 2015, in Suffolk, Mass., shows one of ten M11 semiautomatic handguns that former Army Reserve member James Morales stole from the Lincoln Stoddard Army Reserve Center in Worcester, Mass. Overall, AP has found that at least 2,000 firearms from the Army, Marines, Navy or Air Force were lost or stolen during the 2010s. (U.S. District Court for Massachusetts via AP)

Congress plans fixes for US military’s AWOL weapons problems

 

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Firearms instructor Michael Palombo holds a Springfield Armory M25 rifle during field testing to measure radio frequency identification signal range in Hickman, Calif., on Sunday, June 6, 2021. Palombo inserted an RFID tag into the rifle for the test. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

AP: Military units track guns using tech that could aid foes

Determined to keep track of their guns, some U.S. military units have turned to a technology that could let enemies detect troops on the battlefield, The Associated Press has found.
 
This 2017 image from video made available by the U.S. Air Force shows weapons stored at the Little Rock Air Force Base in Arkansas. Determined to track the whereabouts of their guns, some units of the U.S. Air Force and Army have explored radio frequency identification technology that could let enemies detect American troops on the battlefield, The Associated Press has found. The Marines and Navy told AP they will not put the technology in guns, in part due to security concerns. (Senior Airman Jael Laborn/U.S. Air Force via AP)

Takeaways: AP’s investigation of military gun tracking tech

A tracking tag that some units in the U.S. military are using to keep control of guns could let even low-tech enemies detect troops on the battlefield, an ongoing Associated Press investigation has found.
 
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley testifies before a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing to examine proposed budget estimates and justification for fiscal year 2022 for the Department of Defense in Washington on Thursday, June 17, 2021. (Caroline Brehman/Pool via AP)

Top general ‘shocked’ by AP report on AWOL guns, mulls fix

Shocked by an Associated Press investigation into the loss and theft of military guns, the Pentagon’s top general signaled Thursday that he will consider a “systematic fix” to how the armed services keep account of their firearms.
 
A photo illustration of a U.S. military service member. (AP Illustration)

US Army has hidden or downplayed loss of firearms for years

The U.S. Army has hidden or downplayed the extent to which its firearms disappear, significantly understating losses and thefts even as some weapons are used in street crimes.
 
A photo illustration showing a gun tied to four shootings in Albany, New York, an investigative document and surveillance video of one shooting. (AP Illustration)

AP: Some stolen US military guns used in violent crimes

Pulling a pistol from his waistband, the young man spun his human shield toward police.

“Don’t do it!” a pursuing officer pleaded.
 
A photo illustration from a Clovis, California, police evidence image of a stolen AK-74 and an associated investigative document. (AP Illustration/Nat Castañeda)

Stolen Army assault rifles keep showing up in California

Authorities in California’s agricultural heartland weren’t looking for a military assault rifle when they went to investigate the domestic assault case, but they found one.
 

Takeaways: AP’s investigation into missing US military guns

In the first public accounting of its kind in decades, an Associated Press investigation has found that at least 1,900 U.S. military firearms were lost or stolen during the 2010s, with some resurfacing in violent crimes.
 
A photo illustration combining photos of grenades collected as evidence in an investigation into stolen military explosives. (AP Illustration/Nat Castañeda)

Military stumped by stolen box of armor-piercing grenades

The green, metal box was stuffed inside a bright pink pillowcase and stashed in the bushes behind Christopher Zachery’s house. He hauled it out for a better look.
 
Graphic depicting an M16 rifle. (AP Illustration/Peter Hamlin)

A guide to the US military guns most often lost or stolen

An Associated Press investigation has found that at least 1,900 U.S. military firearms were lost or stolen during the 2010s.
 
A photo illustration combining a defendant’s letter to a judge in the case of weapons he stole from a Massachusetts armory and an evidence photo of an M4 carbine rifle. (AP Illustration/Nat Castañeda)

With Massachusetts armory theft, military guns went public

The young barber was walking to the car after the first Saturday night party of the new year when a robber put a pistol to his head and demanded everything.