Washington (CNN) The disappearance of a machine gun and a box of grenades from an Air Force base in North Dakota has prompted military officials to order a full, command-wide inventory and investigation to establish that weapons used by security personnel at eight military bases are accounted for, according to a US military official familiar with the details of the situation.

The full, command-wide inventory at eight bases under the Air Force Global Strike Command will cover all small arms, machine guns, pistols, rifles and grenades, according to the official. Routine inventories of military armories at the bases are conducted three times a day and weapons are matched against serial number records.

The FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives have also been called in, according to the official.

The inventory was ordered on Thursday, after an M-240 fully-automatic machine gun was found to be missing at the base in Minot, North Dakota during a routine inventory the previous day.

"During a standard weapons inventory at Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota on 16 May, a M-240 7.62 caliber weapon was discovered missing. The 5th Bomb Wing and 91st Missile Wing immediately began a search of their weapons inventories and opened an investigation with the Air Force Office of Special Investigations. This investigation is ongoing, and more information will be provided as it becomes available," the command said in a statement.

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