JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — One-hundred twenty-six million dollars worth of military aircraft parts were found in a warehouse in Jacksonville.
The Navy's No. 2 civilian made that revelation and even revealed Navy aircraft couldn't fly because they didn't have the parts to keep them in the air.
Undersecretary Thomas Modly told military reporters that Navy aircraft couldn't fly because they didn't know these parts lived in a warehouse in Jacksonville.
Military.com reported Modly's comments about the results of an internal Department of Defense audit.
He said auditors found $126 million worth of parts for F-14 Tomcat, P-8 Poseidon and P-3 Orion aircraft.
Action News Jax's Paige Kelton reached out and a spokesman for Modly emailed this statement:
"The local installation was aware of the warehouse, however while conducting a local clean-up effort, they identified spare parts that were not visible to the larger Navy supply system."
He went on to say of the Navy jets being down: "By making these parts visible to the larger supply system, they were able to satisfy requisitions related to F-18 engines and common systems."
A spokeswoman at NAS Jacksonville admitted they "knew about the parts and the warehouse."
But when we asked if any changes were made in how inventory is kept, she referred me back to the Navy. That question has still gone unanswered.