Radio-frequency identification has ushered the U.S. military's global supply chain into the 21st century. That was clear in the massive logistics operations last year for the Iraq war as the military services precisely tracked myriad shipments from all over the world to the war front, located quickly needed material and eliminated human errors that plague manual tracking systems.
Contrast the Department of Defense's RFID-streamlined logistics with the buildup to the Gulf war in 1991. Back then, the military shipped vast quantities of duplicate supplies to be assured that at least some goods could be obtained at the front lines.
Manual tracking systems harbored errors on cargo manifests and often shipped to the wrong location, and contents could not be readily identified even when reaching their destination.
