Camp Fuji, a Marine Corps live-fire training area south of Tokyo, is among the first in Japan to announce it’s replacing its Vehicle Identification Link keys and key readers with the new Gasboy system. (Song Jordan/U.S. Marine Corps)
A system that allows you to fuel up an official vehicle by scanning a QR code, Common Access Card or driver’s license is coming online at U.S. military bases worldwide.
Security concerns and fraud issues were the main reasons for the upgrade, Bradley Zink, a fuel accountant with TK&K Services, a Defense Logistics Agency contractor, said in an Army news release last month.
“We can actually see who’s getting fuel,” Lance Cpl. Casey Malcom, an alternate fuels accountant, said in a Marine news release Monday. “We can see who’s using fuel more than other sections, which is cool.”
Camp Fuji, a Marine Corps live-fire training area south of Tokyo, is among the first in Japan to announce it’s replacing its Vehicle Identification Link keys and key readers with the new Gasboy system, according to a Marine news release Monday.
“With our old system, we would have to download every single transaction from the previous day and then we would upload them to our system,” Malcom said. “This new system sends information directly to us within 15 minutes, so it eliminates all the steps we had to do for reports.”
The upgrades are being driven by the DLA, which must replace more than 600 fuel stations globally, according to the agency’s website. Gasboy began appearing at stateside bases in 2022.
Misawa Air Base in northern Japan completed upgrades to two fuel stations on Friday, Tech. Sgt. Justen Rodriguez, 35th Logistic Readiness Squadron fuels management flight non-commissioned officer in charge, said by phone Wednesday.
Some bases are still working on getting the new system up and running.
At Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo, it’s installed but not ready to use, Senior Airman Carlie Daggett, 374th Logistics Readiness Squadron’s fuels management specialist, said by phone Wednesday.
“The pedestals are installed but the system is not operational yet,” she said by phone Wednesday. “An email will be sent to all the vehicle control officers when the new system is ready.”
DLA plans to have all the new system fully operational by fiscal year 2025.
