The 1st marine aircraft wing Materiel Readiness Branch held a conference Feb. 22 to discuss logistics modernization initiatives at the Camp Foster Chapel Annex.

The conference, attended by supply, logistics, and maintenance officers and staff non-commissioned officers from units throughout Okinawa and Japan, provided an overview of an upcoming overhaul to the current logistics system, which governs the transfer of essential parts and supplies to troops on the battlefield.

The logistics modernization project is about increased reliability, accuracy, and responsiveness to better serve the Marine war-fighter on the ground by enabling them to keep better track of equipment and gear, according to Maj. Brian D. Ehrlich, the assistant officer-in-charge of the Logistics Modernization Team-Western Pacific.

The Marine Corps has allotted more than $600 million for logistics modernization initiatives, the first of which will be in place by fiscal year 2008, Ehrlich added.

The 35-year-old Supported Activities Supply and Marine Corps Integrated Maintenance Management System currently being used, is inadequate for today's more mobilized Marine Corps, according to Master Gunnery Sgt. Paul T. Berardo, the 1st MAW supply chief.

The new system, known as the Global Combat Support System-Marine Corps, tracks gear, equipment parts, and supplies in a way similar to tracking systems used by most major package delivery companies, explained Master Sgt. Guy W. Gallaugher, a LMT-WP logistics analyst.

The new system is more reliable because it's Web-based and will combine many conflicting systems into an easy-to-access online application like Marine Online, Gallaugher added.

To illustrate the importance of communication to a supply chain, the conference attendees played the logistics modernization game.

The game was adapted by the Marine Corps from a college teaching tool which showed the problems of moving items from a manufacturer to the consumer. Players had to order enough supplies to satisfy troop demand without holding a surplus in the warehouse, which could bog down their support lines and result in casualties.

"There has never been this much support or funding for fixing the current logistics system," Ehrlich said. "The system will increase efficiency, but not at the cost of effectiveness."