So why don't we ever hear about the Defense Logistics Agency? The very large but rarely talked about agency has more than 26,000 employees and handles roughly $40 billion worth of uniforms, working with 24,000 suppliers to procure guns, bullets, oil, food, medical supplies, and construction equipment, among other necessary items.

Despite its massive importance, the agency is largely ignored politically and by the layperson. Operating without strict oversight may have led to an environment in which tens of thousands of critical but defective gun parts were shipped to soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to an extensive, year-long investigation for Motherboard by reporter Damien Spleeters.

Read more: When Big Guns Go Down

Thirty percent of soldiers who used the M249 machine gun have experienced jamming or stoppage of the weapon while engaging in combat; at least 60 guns literally exploded in the hands of American soldiers between 2008 and 2009, according to safety center records obtained by Motherboard.