Less than a year ago, the Department of Homeland Security publicized plans to buy 1.6 billion rounds of ammunition – or roughly five bullets for every American citizen. The agency, which expends over 15 million rounds per year, claimed that the ammo, which would be bought over a period of five years, would go to local law enforcements across the country for training purposes.

A year later, the United States Army has decided to purchase it’s own special stash of ammunition. Amongst the sequestration, the Army has decided to purchase 3.5 million rounds of different ammunition. What separates this from regular ammo purchases is that the purchase falls under two unique categories. Firstly, this purchase is an independent solicitation, and is independent from the massive bulk purchase in which the military purchases it’s ammunition. The second, is that this solicitation is marked as an emergency purchase for a “crisis situation.�?