21.6 billion is what they are acquiring in a time when the whole country is stockpiling. The Border Patrol. Alone has approximately 21,000 agents. Every agent is required to qual every quarter. Every qual is a minimum of 72 rounds = 288rounds per agent per year at a minimum. 288x21,000=6,048,000 rounds just for qualifying with one gun for one agency. That doesn't account for additional training, or that several agents also qual with a compact version of their duty weapon every quarter. Several agents also qual with the UMP both quals requiring a minimum of 72 rounds. Throw in the M4 and 870quals and that's a lot of rounds. Trainees at the academy shoot atleast twice as many rounds every time they go to the range and they go pretty much every other day. The number of rounds needed per year is adding up fast and doesn't accountfor what agents get for the field and to train on their own. Now there are a lot of agencies under DHS and several others that train at a Federal Academy. All of which need bullets from DHS. There is more than one federal training academy also not to mention training done by DHS at military bases. DHS is facing major budget cuts. They are just trying to stock up before they dont have the money to sustain their use. The government isn't the group clearing the shelves its the public that has upped the amount of ammo it is stockpiling. It's all about the cost vs. the budget. The article quoted how much ammo was used in Iraq but what about the rest of the military? If they showed what the militaryused in training I'm sure it would shadow DHS.