Gary A. Gross

Date of Award

9-1995

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

First Advisor

William A. Cunningham III, PhD

Second Advisor

Kirk Vaughan, PhD

Abstract

The lack of asset visibility experienced at Aerial Ports of Embarkation (APOEs) during Operation Desert Storm is a phenomenon that has occurred in every major conflict for the last 40 years. The costs associated with this lack of control directly relate to the combat readiness and capability of supported units. This study examined the possibility of installing a Radio Frequency Identification (RF-ID) system to track Department of Defense 463L pallets worldwide. Performance characteristics of commercially available RF-ID systems were summarized, and a conceptual Air Mobility Command (AMC) tracking system was presented. For purposes of concept study, Amtech Corporation's Intellitag RT 2000 system was selected as the representative system. Costs to acquire, implement, and maintain the representative system approach $77,000,000, based on AMC requirements and historical costs of similar large scale commercial systems. Projected benefits of RF-ID implementation are discussed in terms of lean logistics, estimated wartime cost-avoidance, and operational tests of similar systems.

AFIT Designator

AFIT-GLM-LAL-95S-6

DTIC Accession Number

ADA300845

Comments

The author's Vita page is omitted.

Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Logistics and Acquisition Management of the Air Force Institute of Technology.

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