Then the Marines need to shoot more
OK, that probably sounded a little snarky, but it's true of all the armed services. Despite the fact that the mission is to kill people and break things, US servicemen and women simply don't shoot enough-particularly with handguns, but I'd argue this also true with M4s and such. I've yet to find someone in the service who thinks they shoot enough, and that includes guys in SOF (of course, SOF guys
like to shoot).
It's not about how many rounds are fired in one firefight; it's about training. For example, I just trained 4 new guys for our team and they fired more 5.56 in 3 days than I did in Infantry BRM and ARM.
Also, keep in mind DHS runs the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center. FLETC has multiple campuses, they train more than just the feds, and when you go there the ammo is provided. They also have the Coast Guard, the Secret Service and the Federal Air Marshals under their umbrella. FAMS and USSS shoot a lot, probably more than most agencies.
450 million over 5 years is 90 million rounds a year for an agency that has to supply something like 7 or 8 police outfits with training and duty ammo. Given that some agencies require quarterly training and qualification, that doesn't seem like a lot.
Also keep in mind that DHS has some roughly 240, 000 employees. I'm not sure of the tooth-to-tail ratio, but it's something to think about.
I agree we need to shoot more! We always need to shoot more.
I did make a mistake in my post, though. The expenditure on small arms ammunition figure
($150 to $250 million) was for the
ENTIRE DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY, not just the entire Marine Corps. So it was everyone in the Navy AND everyone who is in the Marine Corps, and who fought in Iraq AND Afghanistan during the years from 2001 to 2007, and who shot on the many Marine Corps and Navy ranges, and everyone who passes through Boot Camp and SOI (School of Infantry), and MCT (Marine Combat Training), and everywhere else across the globe where there is a Naval Installation or a Marine Corps Base- all of that ammo comes out to $150 to $250 million on average...
Regarding your numbers:
Actually there aren't 240,000 DHS employees, unless you count MILITARY PERSONNEL who may function in support to the DHS- which means you're counting their ammo allocation twice. Even then, after adding military, the 240,000 number is still high. Here are the actual numbers:
45000 - TSA
58000 Customs and Border Patrol
8300 US Immigration & Customs Enforcement
7000 US Secret Service, Agents and Uniformed
6500 FEMA
300 CBRN
40,000 US Coast Guard
There are 161,000 DHS employees total.
http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=43230
Now compare the 161,000 mostly non-shooting DHS to the Dept. of Navy (actual 2012 numbers):
Active Duty: 323,773
- Officers Officers: 53,120
- Enlisted Enlisted: 266,146
- Midshipmen Midshipmen: 4,507
Ready Reserve: 105,157 [As of Feb 2012 ]
- Selected Reserves Selected Reserves: 64,118
- Individual Ready Reserve Individual Ready Reserve: 41,039
Reserves currently mobilized: 4,668 [As of 03 Apr 2012]
Personnel on deployment: 47,943
Navy Department Civilian Employees: 203,609
That's close to 600,000 people counted in much the same way as we counted DHS- which means we counted people who push brooms, spackle walls, and pave parking lots just as hard in both cases.
Even if you subtract 40,000 in consideration of the IRR (Individual Ready Reserves), you're still talking 560,000 persons.
The
mostly non-shooting DHS has an ammo allocation rougly
4 times greater per man than the US Navy and Marine Corps
during a time of multi-front war.