(FORTUNE Magazine) – Camp Adder in south-central Iraq is one of those dusty, middle-of-nowhere places that assume great importance in time of war. A motley collection of just about every kind of truck you can imagine, from fuel tankers and water carriers to five-ton haulers crammed with ammo, Adder is a key logistics depot for American troops in Iraq and appears to be an exercise in chaos, Army-style.

Except it's not. As the sun sinks in the desert sky and one vehicle after another enters the camp's makeshift gate, a lamppost-like device called an interrogator electronically records the passage of each vehicle and transmits the data back to military logistics headquarters in Kuwait. Taking a cue from private logistics masters like FedEx and Wal-Mart, the Army has gone high tech in this war, equipping each supply truck with radio sensors that signal exactly where it is at all times.

"We can track things from the factory to the foxhole," says Army logistics officer Maj. Forest Burke, describing how the military has adopted strategies such as just-in-time delivery and lean supply chains. It's an awesome job--each day American forces in Iraq consume more than 200,000 gallons of water and roughly a million gallons of fuel. And nearly all of it must be trucked hundreds of miles from Kuwait all the way to Baghdad.

What's more, every container the military moves from a seaport near Kuwait City north into Iraq bears a chip that details what's inside--whether it's MREs (those rations with extraordinary shelf lives) or ammo--so soldiers with handheld scanners can quickly locate what they need. "What would have taken several days to locate in the first Gulf war, we can now find in 20 minutes," says Burke, who studied Wal-Mart's Vidalia, Ga., Supercenter before he shipped out to the Middle East. "Back in 1991, I had a clipboard and carbon paper." This technological transformation started only in the mid-'90s, says Burke, but it has led to dramatic efficiency gains. While there are one-third as many troops this time around as in Desert Storm, the Army is using 90% fewer shipping containers.

Although the military's focus is shifting from combat to humanitarian relief and reconstruction with the collapse of Saddam's regime, logistics officers like Burke will continue to play a key role. Huge amounts of food and water are still needed in Iraq--for U.S. soldiers and Iraqi civilians alike--and heavy equipment will continue to flow into Iraq as roads and other infrastructure are rebuilt. Fortunately, what they've long known at Wal-Mart headquarters in Bentonville, Ark., is now being applied in Baghdad. --Nelson D. Schwartz