The US National Guard has bought a radio frequency
identification (RFID) system from supplier Savi Technology so that
it can track supplies both in its armouries and in the
field.
The Guard, which is a civilian agency, chose the £2.45m system
because it could communicate with the US Department of Defense’s
(DoD) own RFID tracking network.
The DoD mandated RFID for all its suppliers by 2007 in an
attempt to tag its entire supply chain. The National Guard needed
its system to work with the DoD’s global In-Transit Visibility
cargo tracking network because the Guard provides support for the
regular army both in disaster relief operations and the war in
Iraq.
RFID systems will be supplied to each state’s Joint Force
Headquarters. Guard units in the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto
Rico and the US Virgin Islands will also receive systems.
Some 120 mobile handheld readers and 5,400 active RFID tags will
be deployed in total.