He noted that in hindsight, he relied too much on the supervisory park ranger, assuming that he would make the right decision about what model rifle to purchase. The former chief ranger recalled that the Model R0977 was on a "wish list" that the supervisory park ranger gave him in 2008, but he did not conduct any research to ensure the purchase was appropriate and adhered to NPS policy. The former chief ranger said that he would not be surprised to learn that the supervisory park ranger ordered the Model R0977 knowing it was a fully automatic rifle. He said that no one at MNP headquarters knew that the rifles violated NPS policy. The former chief ranger said that if he had known the Model R0977 was a fully automatic rifle, he would not have approved the purchase.
The MNP deputy superintendent said that he was not aware that NPS policy prohibited rangers from carrying fully automatic weapons. He said that the process of purchasing new rifles began in 2008, when MNP staff were developing the budget for 2009. He recalled that the supervisory park ranger decided which rifle model to purchase. The deputy superintendent recalled a conversation with the supervisory park ranger and then-chief ranger about the purchase, but there was no discussion of whether the new rifles would be capable of firing fully automatic. The deputy superintendent said that the purchase of new rifles was part of the management team's final discussions of the 2009 budget. He said that he made the final decision to purchase the rifles, but he did not know specifically what was being ordered. He said that after the management team provided approval, the supervisory park ranger was authorized to make the purchase through the contracting officer.
We interviewed the contracting officer about the procurement process. He told us that the purchase of the new rifles was initiated when the law enforcement staff sent him a completed form DI-1 (the requisition form for the procurement of supplies or services) that provided the specifications, dollar estimate, and justification for the purchase. According to the contracting officer, he no longer had copies of the purchase records because, in accordance with record retention policy, the documents were destroyed after 3 years. He said that he normally verified all weapons requisitions with the chief ranger to ensure the purchases were authorized. He said that he received oral approval from the then-chief ranger but did not have a written record of the approval.
According to the contracting officer, when the rifles arrived, he checked them in and logged the serial numbers. He said that no one told him that the rifles were capable of firing fully automatic, and he did not know enough about weapons to make that determination himself. He said that he should have been told that the fully automatic rifles violated NPS policy. He said that the supervisory park ranger picked up the rifles from him.
During a follow-up interview, the supervisory park ranger acknowledged that, contrary to the information he provided during his initial interview, he and the park ranger/armorer together selected the Colt M-4 Model R0977 fully automatic rifle after researching different rifle models made by Colt and other manufacturers. He said that he looked at a Colt catalog that indicated the Model R0977 was a fully automatic rifle and that he and the park ranger/armorer chose it because it was the only Colt model that met the mil-spec requirements in NPS policy. The supervisory park ranger told us that it was possible he knew the rifles would arrive at MNP
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