PSSM 101: A Primer on Physical Security and Stockpile Management of Munitions and Related United States’ Assistance

Since the end of the Cold War, vast quantities of arms and ammunition stockpiled in many countries around the world have become a threat to the people in those countries, to their neighbors, and to much of the world at large, including the United States and its allies and trading partners. This includes weapons from the former Soviet Union, or of countries that acquired or inherited munitions during their wars for independence such as Angola or Bosnia and Herzegovina, or were involved repeatedly in regional conflicts such as Libya.

THE PROBLEM. These conventional munitions, often excess to countries’ current national security needs, are prone to being illicitly trafficked to criminals and terrorists, and fuel armed conflict such as in the Middle East and the Sahel. Even relatively prosperous democracies such as Colombia, Mexico, and the Philippines, suffer from the depredations of heavily-armed guerilla groups and large criminal gangs that possess military-grade weapons. On top of that, the aging ammunition in many foreign governments’ depots is deteriorating to the point where it is prone to catastrophic UEMS that can kill civilians living nearby, damage critical infrastructure, degrade military readiness, and, in some cases, impact political stability. Even newer, more stable ammunition is stored in too many poorly-secured depots worldwide, making it prone to theft and enabling further conflict and criminality. That is why the U.S. CWD program, which originally focused on humanitarian mine action alone, developed a holistic approach to strengthening our partners’ ability to manage their arms and ammunition stockpiles, including MANPADS, which pose a threat to global aviation. SA/LW in El Salvador stored in a facility in need of refurbishment. Photo courtesy of the Department of State.

THE SOLUTION. To help prevent illicit proliferation and UEMS, governments must maintain high physical security and stockpile management (PSSM) standards for their arms and ammunition. This ongoing effort requires frequent monitoring of stockpiles, regular training of qualified experts, facility upgrades and maintenance, and long-term planning for infrastructure, resources, and procurement associated with arms and ammunition. Activities associated with PSSM include: • Conducting risk assessment of arms and ammunition storage sites; • Repairing, upgrading, and maintaining physical infrastructure at arms and ammunition storage sites; • Developing effective accountability and inventory systems to make it more difficult for corrupt individuals to illicitly transfer weapons to terrorists, drug traffickers, criminal gangs, and other destabilizing actors; • Training security services on best practices and international standards related to arms and ammunition management; • Modernizing arms and ammunition management processes and platforms; • Conducting ammunition surveillance; and • Destroying surplus and/or obsolete stockpiles

The U.S. Department of State supports a wide range of activities that bolster our international partners’ PSSM capacity. This helps our partners develop and implement comprehensive plans for building safer storage facilities, improving accountability, strengthening transportation procedures, training staff on best practices for storage techniques, and destroying unstable and surplus ammunition. From Africa to South America and from the Middle East to the Pacific Islands, these engagements keep civilians and infrastructure safe while denying nefarious actors access to arms and ammunition, and strengthen the capacity of our allies to safeguard and manage their munitions. This broadspectrum CWD approach—ranging from humanitarian demining to small arms/light weapons destruction and PSSM—is among the U.S. foreign assistance efforts that are helping people worldwide “to walk the earth in safety.”