Apr 29, 2009Radio frequency identification, along with satellite and cellular technologies, is playing a critical role in the war efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to Major General James L. Hodge, commanding general of the Surface Deployment and Distribution Command (SDDC) division at Scott Air Force Base. At RFID Journal LIVE! 2009, held this week in Orlando, Fla., Hodge explained that RFID enables the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) to track the movements of cargo to and from these regions. He urged technology providers to continue researching and developing products that can help the DOD's U.S. Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM) division ensure that materiel such as food, fuel and clothing safely reaches combat troops when needed.
The SDDC, a subdivision of USTRANSCOM, is focusing on several new logistic challenges in the Middle Eastern wars, including providing visibility as the DOD adds a northerly route for cargo into Afghanistan through Europe, as well as the lack of a government-managed RFID reader infrastructure in Pakistan, and the recurring problems of theft, attacks on supply providers and other delivery delays.
The SDDC, Hodge explained, has a mission to deliver sustainment (support) and equipment on time, with 100 percent in-transit visibility. "We can't do it without automated information services," including RFID and satellite technology, he told attendees. Most of the supply chain into and out of the Middle East is managed through fixed RFID portals, he noted, though in some cases—when portals are not available, or if closer management of a supply chain is necessary—the DOD employs more expensive satellite technology.
According to Hodge, shipments to and from Iraq and Afghanistan can typically be obstructed by weather, border delays, theft and pilferage, political unrest, attacks, labor issues and road conditions. RFID data helps the SDDC determine the impact of these types of events, he said, adding, "Every piece of cargo means something to someone out there."
At present, military cargo is tagged with passive EPC Gen 2 UHF RFID tags for warehouse tracking, while cargo containers are tracked by means of 433 MHz active RFID tags, which are read along the trade route by fixed RFID interrogators. Active RFID tags typically transmit an ID number that, in the DOD's back-end system, is linked to the shipment's identity and destination, as well as the time and location of each read. In Afghanistan, a new logistics route has been established originating in Latvia, through Russia and Uzbekistan, and into Afghanistan from the north. The Department of Defense does not yet have RFID readers deployed along this route, so the military must rely on handheld or fixed interrogators operated by third-party commercial logistics providers.
The DOD tags approximately 16,000 cargo items each week, Hodge said, and those tags serve three major purposes. Strategic data provides key leaders with visibility of the supply chain so they can make key decisions regarding the war effort, such as "Do we have enough fuel in Afghanistan?" Operational data from the RFID system helps the military answer such key questions as, "Where's my stuff?" And tactical information helps those on the battlefield make decisions based on which supplies they have available.
The SDDC has installed 388 active RFID interrogators on the trade route throughout Iraq and Kuwait, Hodge said. With these readers, he added, the cargo can be tracked from a port all the way to a military base.
Pakistan does not allow military-owned RFID infrastructure within its borders, however. Therefore, Hodge noted, equipment traveling from the Port of Karachi to troops in Afghanistan is primarily tracked by 16 interrogator sites owned and operated by private commercial enterprises. Four additional RFID reader sites along that route are being planned. The DOD's transit visibility has recently diminished in that area, Hodge said, as commercial cargo carriers (shippers) often vary routes depending on a particular area's safety, based on recent attacks, and thus do not always drive by one of those 16 fixed sites.
In Afghanistan, the Defense Department has installed 10 interrogator sites. With the planned increase of forces in that region, however, the DOD expects to rely heavily on RFID reader infrastructure development in the new northern route from Europe.
Hodge cited several examples of how RFID technology has assisted the war effort in Iraq. For one thing, he said, the interrogators can be used to capture ID numbers on tagged cargo destined for foreign military sales (FMS), including supplies for the Iraqi military. "That kind of cargo is key to our success in both Iraq and Afghanistan," he stated. "The sooner we can get Iraqis to take care of themselves, the better."
Theft and pilferage in Pakistan and Afghanistan led the SDDC to fit containers with intrusion-detection devices utilizing RFID, as well as satellite tracking, to allow the military greater visibility into the location (and any suspicious delays) of the trucks. "Once we started using container intrusion devices and satellite tracking," Hodge said, "we haven't had any pilfering in eight months."
In addition, the military utilized RFID data in the recent pirate attack on a Maersk Line vessel in Somalia. Because Maersk is one of the military's primary commercial carriers, the SDDC was concerned as to whether military cargo was being transported on the ship when the attack was revealed. To obtain an answer to that mystery, the SDDC accessed its RFID tagging database.
"Within five minutes," Hodge told attendees, "we were able to find the vessel manifest, and find out who the cargo belonged to, and were able to answer that question immediately."
The technology also provides a cost savings for the military, Hodge said, by reducing the backlog of commercially owned containers at ports and other locations. If containers are not unloaded and returned to a carrier within seven days, he noted, the carrier charges a penalty. "When we had hundreds of containers arriving, the containers piled up and detention charges added up very quickly," he stated. Since active RFID tags have been attached to each container, that backlog of empty containers has dropped, as have detention charges.
As of September 2008, Hodge said, USTRANSCOM had moved 10.7 million tons of dry cargo and 5.5 billion gallons of fuel, and had completed more than 107,000 airlift missions. Ultimately, RFID had made that effort more efficient.
"We have a daunting task and cannot succeed without your support," Hodge told the RFID vendors in attendance. As such, he encouraged audience members to continue developing intrusion-detection tags, improved interrogators and other RFID-related technology.
