A newly installed electronic tracking device in Camp Pendleton Service Record Books is expected to save the base nearly $1.5 million and 54,000 man-hours annually.

The tracking system, implemented last October, now manages more than 38,000 Service Record Books belonging to Camp Pendleton service members.

“This user-friendly tool (has been) long overdue,” said Chief Warrant Officer 2 Sandy Gonzalez, officer in charge, Installation Personnel Administration Center, Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton. “Since inception, this tool has optimized productivity and improved operational efficiencies. No longer will there be a need to pull and look at every single record to make sure they are there,” she said.

Service Record Book accountability that normally took weeks to establish, could now only take days.

Camp Pendleton is the second and largest installation to utilize the electronic tracking system after Marine Corps Base Hawaii.

“Hawaii manages about 8,000 service records, and the tracking system has enabled them to vastly increase productivity and accuracy,” said Gonzalez. “That equates to huge savings in man hours.”

All service members require a service record as it maintains a history of individual Marines. Handheld scanners and tracking pads identify the paper-thin tracking tags inserted in each SRB.

“If a file has been misplaced, you can locate it quickly with a sweep of the Handheld Tracker,” said Gonzalez.

Personnel administration centers throughout the Corps are expected to adopt the new system as testing continues on Camp Pendleton.