USAF looking for missing machine gun, weeks after losing grenades from same base

Yet another highly sensitive -and dangerous- item is missing from Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota, one that could rake in a hefty premium on the black market.

A standard weapons inventory at Minot on Wednesday revealed that an M240 medium machine gun is missing, prompting a massive base-wide search.

According to KFRY TV, both the 5th Bomb Wing and the 91st Missile Wing are on the hunt for the M240 (a belt-felt, gas-operated machine gun that shoots 7.62mm rounds), along with the USAF Office of Special Investigations (OSI).

Recently, Minot has had an accountability problem when it comes to things that go “boom”- earlier this month, a can of 40mm grenades belonging to the 91st Missile Wing Security Forces team from the Minot Air Force Base allegedly “fell off a truck” while traveling between missile sites in Mountrail County.

While a $5,000 reward is being offered for the grenades and a 100-airman search team walked the six-mile route in an effort to get the grenades, the search for them has since been called off.

The 91st Missile Wing oversees 150 nuclear-tipped Minuteman III missiles and launch facilities in central and western North Dakota.

So, if by chance you see anyone trying to sell you an M240, think twice before buying it or notify OSI- in addition to being a restricted item under the National Firearms Act, it’s also probably stolen.

Lt. Col. Jamie Humphries, chief of Public Affairs at Minot AFB says both incidents are under investigation and more information will be provided as it becomes available.

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