Dear Editor,
The Army tries to provide the best small arms and ammo for our Soldiers as possible. Our weapons can fire at very high rates, but no matter how hard we try to make the best ammo, it’s likely that Soldiers will experience a major weapon or ammo malfunction at some point.
Army Regulation 75-1,
Malfunctions Involving Ammunition and Explosives, prescribes guidance on how to report ammo malfunctions. Soldiers just need to follow the procedures laid out in Chapter 2 of the AR.
The first step is helping any injured Soldiers. Next, Soldiers must ensure the weapon is cleared and on safe, then document the conditions, state when the ammo malfunctioned and take photos of the incident.
They should start by taking pictures of the outside of the weapon, then the inside. That’ll show what’s been damaged and how the parts are positioned after the
malfunction. And they need to secure all damaged ammo and weapon parts.
There also needs to be photos of the ammo to compare the fired and unfired rounds, showing the head stamp and the firing pin strike on the primer.
And they can’t forget the remnants of linked ammo belts or loaded magazines. The last thing is to take photos of the ammo packaging, making sure to show the lot number.
Also, Soldiers should contact their local LAR or quality assurance specialist (ammunition surveillance) or QASAS to report the incident and share this information.
Units can submit ammo malfunction reports directly to JMC at:
You'll need your CAC to access. If it's the first time going to the website, a one-time registration is required.
By the way, the email addresses for JMC are incorrect in AR 75-1. Units can email photos and reports to:
Information on malfunctions we receive from LARs, QASAS and Soldiers allows JMC to assess the safety and serviceability of the ammo lot. If more data is needed, we’ll conduct formal testing on the suspect ammo lot.
The JMC mission is to provide Warfighters with ready, reliable and lethal munitions at the speed of war. We definitely can use their help ensuring the ammo in the stockpile is safe to use and the best quality we can provide.
Daniel Saito
Rock Island, IL
Editor’s note: Good information, Dan. Soldiers, report your ammo malfunctions and heed this guidance.