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SRC I-IV AA&E Storage

Safety and Secure Storage is Never More Important Then When it Involves Arms and Ammunition

                Does your business need to store arms, ammunition or explosives? Are you a government contractor? If so, storage and security are a huge concern.  You need to store all important and potentially dangerous items properly and in the right place. Luckily, the Department of Defense (DoD) has released a manual about how to properly store arms, ammunition and explosives (AA&E) and www.safeandvault.com has the GSA-approved equipment to fulfill your DoD requirements.

                There are a lot of rules, guides and regulations when it comes to storing, securing and transporting AA&E. The two parts we want to focus on in this article are the Special Risk Categories (SRC) and the Class 5 GSA-approved Containers you need for proper storage.

 

                What are SRCs?

                Special Risk Categories are how the government defines how what types of AA&E should be stored in what matter. The government computes each material through a series of tables and establishes a numerical value to each risk factor. These factors (utility, casualty/damage, adaptability and portability) are combined into overall risk and SRC. The numbers from each table are totaled and the overall SRC value is found. For example, to compute casualty/damage; they look at the effect. If the effect is high, then the risk factor is 1 and that means that the device being examined would probably cause death to personnel or cause major material damage. The other end of the scale is if the casualty/damage effect is none, which is a risk factor of 4. That is usually given to petroleum based commercial products. In the end, devices have a risk factor evaluation, if their number is between 4-5 then they are highly sensitive/SRC II, 6-8 means SRC III/moderately sensitive, a score of 9-12 means low sensitivity and SRC IV. Any device with numerical rating of 13 or above is declared non-sensitive and uncategorized.

                SRC-I

                If you’re non-military or non-DoD or not a heavy weapons manufacturer then you probably won’t have to worry about Special Risk Category I because the AA&E that fall under this grouping are mainly missiles and man-portable rockets like Stingers and Javelins and heavier weapons.

                SRC-II

                This category also includes missiles that are crew served and hand/rifle grenades. Other weapons also fall under this grouping are; antitank/antipersonnel mines, C-4, TNT, military dynamite and warheads that weigh less than 50 lbs. When it comes to firearms; the SRC-II category includes, M-16s/M-4s, light automatic weapons (including the M249, M2 and 40mm MK19). SRC-II is also the place for weapons frames and receivers; along with components like mufflers, silencers and other noise suppression devices.

                SRC-III

                Examples of weapons in this category include ammunition of .50 calibers and larger or filled with explosive projectiles (unpacked with a weight of 100 lbs or less). The list also includes incendiary grenades and fuses for high-explosive grenades. Blasting caps, supplementary charges, bulk explosives and detonating cord should also be included a SRC-III area. Weapons-wise; any SRC-III area should be home to functional launch tubes, sight assemblies and grip stock for missiles. Mortar tubes up to 81mm, single-shot grenade launchers and flame throwers.

                SRC-IV

                The types of AA&E in this category include ammunition with non-explosive projectiles, fuses (for non high-explosive grenades), illumination/smoke/CS grenades, incendiary destroyers, riot control agents (excludes commercially produced pepper spray). SRC-IV firearms include single-shot and semi-automatic (non-automatic) shoulder-fired weapons such as shotguns, bolt-action rifles and weapons barrels. This category also includes handguns and recoilless rifles up to and including 106mm models.

                Now you know the types of AA&E that go into different SRC areas; now your company needs a physical security plan. That is a big operation to plan out and implement but we have some tips and general guidelines that can help you along your way. First you need to assess local threats and vulnerabilities, which will include getting information from local law enforcement agencies. Here is a list of other topics you need to cover:

  • Level of protection provided by:
    • Physical security measures
    • Security forces
    • In-depth and integrated security
    • Facility construction
  • Availability and responsiveness of security forces
  • Geographic location
  • Vulnerability of AA&E to theft and loss
  • Size, location and vulnerability of storage and production facilities

o   Impact on mission capability

If your business stores AA&E in the SRC I-IV range then you should also coordinate with DoD components and local/state/federal law agencies for better security plan. This will help you develop a contingency plan which includes everything from theft to national disasters.

Another important point to consider is internal controls. Storage areas must always be monitored and inspected frequently. When it comes to AA&E, there is nothing more important than inventory accountability and management.

Storage is covered as well; all SRC materials must be stored using GSA-approved Class 5 storage containers and locks. Class 5 armory doors must be used as well.

                A full readout of the DoD manual concerning the transport, storage and security of SRC I-IV AA&E can be found here. It is highly recommended that you go through the entire manual for a full accounting of the different rules and regulations.

                We also want to make sure you’re aware that www.safeandvault.com and www.klsecurity.com can help you with obtaining GSA-approved Class 5 security containers and safes. We can supply you with the Class 5 Armory Doors that meet all federal specifications for arms room vault doors. We can also supply you with Class 5 Military Grade Weapons Storage Safes that are available with rollout rifle carts and drawers for pistols. We also have AA&E Key Storage Containers which help you fulfill the lock control clause in the DoD manual; the containers are fully up with all federal specifications and are designed with AA&E material storage rules in mind. The DoD rules also state you can use the Class 5 Armory Doors with our GSA-approved Modular Vault Systems.

                If you want store AA&E SRC I-IV materials then you need to follow the DoD’s rules. We can help you do that with minimum fuss and maximum effectiveness.