War Reserve Stock

A War Reserve Stock (WRS) is a collection of warfighting material held in reserve in pre-positioned storage to be used if needed in wartime. They may be located strategically depending on where it is believed they will be needed. In addition to military equipment, a war reserve stock may include raw materials that might become scarce during wartime. According to this definition, storage such as the Strategic Petroleum Reserve may be considered a war stock.

The United States maintains war reserve stocks around the world, mainly in NATO countries and in some major non-NATO allies. The US 31st Munitions Squadron is tasked with maintaining and distributing the largest war reserve stock piles of munitions for the United States Air Forces in Europe. This includes 21,000 short tons of munitions in Italy and $493 million dollars worth of munitions in two classified sites in Israel.

References

* [http://www.dtic.mil/doctrine/jel/doddict/data/p/index.html DOD Dictionary of Military Terms]
* [http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/agency/31muns.htm 31st Munitions Squadron (31st MUNS)]