Distribution of materiel, such as supplies and equipment, into and around Afghanistan is a complex process involving many DOD organizations and utilizing both surface and air modes of transportation over various routes. DOD’s ability to provide timely logistics support to units deploying to Afghanistan or already in theater depends on its ability to synchronize these activities into one seamless process. According to joint doctrine, distribution is the operational process of synchronizing all elements of the logistic system to deliver the “right things” to the “right place” at the “right time” to support the joint force. As the list below indicates, numerous organizations play an integral role in ensuring the delivery of materiel to support operations in Afghanistan: U.S. Transportation Command is designated as the distribution process owner for DOD. As such, it coordinates transportation programs for all organizations involved in moving supplies and equipment into Afghanistan for DOD. It relies on its military service components—Air Mobility Command (Air Force), Military Sealift Command (Navy), and Surface Deployment and Distribution Command (Army)—to provide mobility assets, such as aircraft, ships, and trucks, and to execute the movement of materiel. In addition, U.S. Transportation Command collaborates with the combatant commanders, military services, defense agencies, Office of the Secretary of Defense, and Joint Staff to develop and implement distribution process improvements. U.S. Forces-Afghanistan establishes priorities for movement of materiel for the Afghanistan theater. Joint Sustainment Command-Afghanistan provides command and control of logistics efforts within Afghanistan to execute U.S. Forces- Afghanistan priorities, including assisting with materiel reception and movement and with asset visibility. Army Central Command’s 1st Theater Sustainment Command provides command and control of logistics efforts within the U.S. Central Command area of operations by monitoring strategic movements of materiel and directly influencing movements into theater. Air Force Central Command’s Air Mobility Division plans, coordinates, tasks, and executes the movement of materiel using air assets within theater. The Central Command Deployment and Distribution Operations Center bridges the gap between strategic and theater distribution by validating and directing air movements and monitoring and directing surface movements within theater. A combination of surface and air transportation modes are used to move supplies and equipment into and around Afghanistan. According to U.S. Transportation Command officials, most supplies and equipment bound for Afghanistan are transported along surface modes, with the remaining supplies and equipment transported using airlift. The main surface route uses commercial ships to transport cargo to the seaport of Karachi, Pakistan, from which it is trucked by contractors into Afghanistan. Typically, materiel that crosses the northern border at Torkham is destined for the logistics hub at Bagram, while materiel that crosses the southern border at Chaman is destined for the Kandahar logistics hub. The distances from the port of Karachi to Bagram and Kandahar are approximately 1,210 miles and 690 miles, respectively. Unit equipment— such as specific vehicles and materiel owned by the unit and brought from home stations—and sustainment materiel—such as food, water, construction materials, parts, and fuel that are requisitioned by units already deployed—are transported through Pakistan. In May 2009, DOD began using an alternative surface route, known as the Northern Distribution Network, which relies on contracted ships, railways, and trucks to transport nonlethal sustainment items like construction materiel through western European and central Asian countries into Afghanistan. The cargo, originating in the United States and northern Europe, falls in with the normal flow of commerce that travels along several routes within the Northern Distribution Network. There are two main routes within this network: one starts at the Latvian port of Riga or the Estonian port of Tallinn and connects with Afghanistan via Russia, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan; the second route starts at the Georgian port of Poti, bypasses Russia, and reaches Afghanistan through the terrains of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan. U.S. Transportation Command is currently considering the development of additional Northern Distribution Network routes to transport materiel into Afghanistan. Currently, the surface routes through Pakistan are used to a greater extent than those of the Northern Distribution Network because the latter is a less mature surface route and the Pakistani ground routes entail fewer limitations on the types of cargo that can be transported. For example, U.S. Transportation Command reported that from May through November 2009, more than 4,700 20-foot–equivalent units were transported into Afghanistan by way of the Northern Distribution Network, but more than 21,500 20-foot–equivalent units were transported using the Pakistani surface routes. The Northern Distribution Network could, however, support the movement of significantly more cargo, with a maximum capacity estimated at around 4,000 20-foot–equivalent units per month. Military and commercial airlift are used to transport high-priority supplies and equipment, as well as sensitive items, such as weapon systems and ammunition, into and around Afghanistan. According to U.S. Forces- Afghanistan, as of December 2009, there were 24 airfields in Afghanistan, 4 of which could support C-5 aircraft and 6 of which could support C-17 aircraft. These aircraft are used to move large quantities of supplies and equipment. Cargo flown into Afghanistan is typically flown to a logistics hub, such as Bagram or Kandahar, that is capable of supporting most types of aircraft. According to Air Mobility Command data, during fiscal years 2008 and 2009, approximately 81,600 and 170,000 short tons of cargo, respectively, were flown into Afghanistan. Supplies and equipment shipped to the logistics hubs may subsequently be transported to units operating at other forward operating bases or combat outposts using a combination of surface and air transportation modes. Within Afghanistan, cargo is moved to forward operating bases primarily by means of contractor-operated trucks, though military trucking assets are used in some instances. High-priority and sensitive materiel, such as ammunition, that needs to be transported by air is loaded onto smaller aircraft and flown to a forward operating base or air-dropped to units throughout the country. DOD has taken some steps to improve its processes for distributing materiel to deployed forces based on lessons learned from prior operations, such as Operation Iraqi Freedom. We reported in August 2005 that two DOD initiatives for improving supply distribution operations—the establishment of the Central Command Deployment and Distribution Operations Center and the use of pure packing (that is, consolidation of cargo for shipment to a single user) for air shipments—were successful enough to warrant application to future operations. In conducting our ongoing work reviewing DOD’s logistics efforts supporting operations in Afghanistan, we found that these initiatives continue to benefit supply distribution efforts in support of operations in Afghanistan. According to officials, both these initiatives have helped improve the flow of supplies into and around the Afghanistan theater of operations. During Operation Iraqi Freedom, senior commanders were unable to prioritize their needs and make decisions in the early stages of the distribution process because they did not know what materiel was being shipped to them, resulting in an overburdened transportation and distribution system. To address these issues, in January 2004, U.S. Transportation Command established the Central Command Deployment and Distribution Operations Center, in part to help coordinate the movement of materiel and forces into the theater of operations, including both Iraq and Afghanistan, by confirming the combatant commander’s deployment and distribution priorities and by synchronizing the forces, equipment, and supplies arriving in theater with critical theater lift and theater infrastructure limitations. Based on the success of the Central Command Deployment and Distribution Operations Center, DOD created similar deployment and distribution operations centers within each of the geographic combatant commands. Pure packing has similarly improved DOD’s efficiency. During the early stages of Operation Iraqi Freedom, the use of mixed pallets of cargo created inefficiencies because they had to be unpacked, sorted, and repacked in the theater of operations before they were shipped forward, thus lengthening the time it took to deliver supplies to troops. To avoid these extra processes, in January 2004, U.S. Central Command requested that all air shipments entering its area of responsibility be pure packed, meaning that all cargo in a pallet is addressed to the same customer location. To maximize pallet and aircraft utilization, cargo awaiting shipment can be held for up to 5 days for the Army and up to 3 days for the Marine Corps. Cargo is palletized either when it reaches 120 hours of port hold time or when enough cargo is available to fill a pallet, based on size or weight limits. As we reported in April 2005, the use of pure packing potentially leads to longer processing times at the originating aerial ports, but it reduces customer wait time in theater, thus providing a significant advantage. DOD has also established policies and procedures to increase the use of RFID tags to improve in-transit visibility over cargo. In December 2003, we reported that DOD did not have adequate visibility over all supplies and equipment transported to, within, and from the theater of operations for Operation Iraqi Freedom, in part because RFID tags were not being used in a uniform and consistent manner. In July 2004, DOD issued policy directing all DOD components to use RFID tags on all cargo shipments moving to, from, or between overseas locations. Additionally, U.S. Central Command policy states that RFID tags must be attached to all unit and sustainment cargo transported to, within, and from U.S. Central Command’s theater of operations. U.S. Central Command issued further guidance requiring RFID tags with intrusion-detection capabilities to be affixed to containers carrying unit equipment along the Pakistani ground routes. Some interrogators have been installed within Pakistan to obtain electronic information from RFID tags as privately contracted trucks transporting DOD cargo pass by.