A new system is born

Fast facts on the military's Deployment and Distribution Operation Center

Fast facts on the military's Deployment and Distribution Operation Center

Deployed: Jan. 16.

Location: Supporting Central Command in Kuwait.

Number of employees: 63.

What it is: The center is a new

operations facility that brings together personnel from all the services and

military agencies and merges existing

supply computer systems to improve

logistics support for commanders.

Performance metrics: The center decreased worldwide supply delivery times from weeks to days.

Divisions: It supports sustainment (supplies), mission (transportation), futures (doctrine) and information technology integration (radio frequency identification and combining data systems).

IT component: The center uses existing supply systems merged by Web technologies so personnel can access logistics data and track supplies.

Who wants it: The eight remaining unified combatant commands would like to build similar centers. Military officials met recently with commanders on the Korean peninsula. Officials from Southern Command, which oversees the Caribbean and Latin America, and European Command, which covers Europe and most of Africa, also want centers.

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