During the first Gulf War, troops had to repeatedly open tens of thousands of Army containers to check their contents. There was no system to keep track of the items and where they had been shipped.

The Joint-Automatic Identi­fication Technology program, run out of the Army Office of the Product Manager for J-AIT, has simplified the supply chain process for the second Gulf deployment.

J-AIT uses commercial tagging technologies, including radio frequency ID, bar codes, memory buttons, magnetic stripes and smart cards.

Products shipped to Iraq now bear one of these ID forms, so when officials on the ground receive containers, they can easily ascertain where they came from, what they contain and where they should go, using their Portable Data Kits, says Jo Manson, a member of the PM J-AIT team.

The PM J-AIT office has widely deployed the system in Iraq. It was built in response to requirements from Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom, Manson says. “RFID and this type of equipment are important enabling capabilities of the modular Army envisioned by Army transformation planners.”

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