With much of the United States speculating as to why the Department of Homeland Security needs billions and billions of dollarsâ worth of ammunition, new reports are coming forth that put the controversial purchases into new light.
âIt started out like any work day, with an office party for [Acquisition Contracting Manager Milton Johannsen]âs birthday,â said Jeff Lavange of DHS. âIt was a pretty typical cake-and-ice cream deal with your boss, Milt was obviously bored. Heâs been here for a long time.â
âAt about four oâclock he just stood up and said âFâk it!'â continued Lavange. ââWho wants Benihana!â he said.â
â[Johannsen] told the whole office to get their things, head out early for, and these are his words not mine, âJ-steaks,'â said April Weston, an interdepartmental liason working with ICE and Border Protection. âI didnât want to go, I told him I had to pick up my sister from the dentistâs, and he pulled out his wallet, gave me a hundred dollars and told me to call her a cab.â
âMr. Johannsen threw his keys at me and called shotgun,â said Staff Assistant C. Pratt Smith, âHe knows I donât drink; he pointed at himself and shouted anyone who knows theyâre gonna need a designated driver come with us.â
âI donât mind,â continued Smith. âI like to eat new things.â
âWhen we got there, there were already people there,â continued Weston. âHe obviously texted some other heads of departments over to the party. There were people from the Secret Service over there, some Coast Guard, FEMA.â
âWe filled up the restaurant,â she said.
âOh yeah, me and [Assistant Director John Onderdonk] were planning this with him for a couple of days now. Hell, Milt just turned sixty, had to celebrate that,â exclaimed Commander Benjamin Hernandez.
âWhen we got inside, Milt had beers brought over for each of us. Not the little beers, but the big ones,â said Bijay Argawal, Acquisitions Procurement Specialist, as he gestured with his hands. âIt took a long time to get our dinner, there were so many of us. But the drinks kept coming.â
âWe got so drunk,â confessed Argawal.
âWe closed the place down,â said Weston. â[Benihana] ran out of beer, then [Onderdonk] just moved us onto sake. Honestly, I donât think anyone remembers what happened after that.â
âYeah, we thought we were pretty safe to drive,â said Onderdonk. âSo we had Pratt take the last of us back to the office. But when we got back, we just started up again. Some people sent Johannsen some whiskey.â
âI checked my email and saw the new price lists for ammo this year,â said Argawal. âAnd they had gone up. Johannsen took a look at our budget, then told me to âbuy it all.'â
âI should have never checked my email,â he said. âWe didnât even realize what weâd done for almost a week, then we got the shipping information.â
âNapolitanoâs so pissed,â said Argawal.
âI donât think anyoneâs going to lose their job over this,â said Onderdonk. âI mean, who here can honestly say theyâve never got brick-faced and bought crap they donât need online? We had the budget for it.â
The Department of Homeland Security purchased up to 1.6 billion rounds of ammunition, enough to fight the war in Iraq for 24 years straight. Neither Milton Johannsen nor Janet Napolitano could be reached for comment.