Temporary duty travel for the Department of Defense has never been easy. The current process is paper-based and not customer-focused.

DoD’s new Defense Travel System, or DTS, uses cutting edge technologies to authorize travel arrangements, as well as compute travel claims – and does it all in an electronic environment.

DTS is expected to show direct cost savings of $481 million dollars over an eight year period, from 1999 to 2006.

Travelers will also save time. A pilot site program concluded that the system provided faster payment, eliminated steps in the travel management process, and reduced the travel management process time by two-thirds.

The DTS project management office has developed an ambitious schedule that will enable full deployment of the system by December 2001. By 2002, we estimate that well over 3 million travelers will be able to take advantage of the Defense Travel System.

The next steps in the Department’s efforts to reengineer travel will focus on permanent duty and Ready Reserve travel. Those efforts are already underway.