Don’t forget that government budgeting rules make for a great waste of money. Each company / battalion / regiment, etc requests an allotment of ammunition for the year. That must account for the Oct 1 through Sep 30 Fiscal year. All training needs are included plus a buffer for anything unexpected. And with govt budgeting, if you don’t use / spend your allotment, you can’t request that amount the next year. So every Sept units burn through all unused rounds so they ensure they get the same amount the next year. Makes for fun September weapon cleaning sessions. Especially after using all of the blanks!!
The most ammo I ever got to shoot up as a 19D was when a 10th Group ODA asked my platoon if we wanted to help shoot up their end of the year ammo. We were doing an AT4 range and the ODA was on an adjacent range. I shot up 2 crates of M203 practice rounds, a bunch of SAW ammo (we didn't use the SAW) and a bunch of 118LR.
I remember at Lewis one year we had 25000 rounds of 5.56 and 20,000 or so 9mm rounds for my team to shoot up at the end of the year. Made for a few long days at the range.
