The Defense Department's oft-criticized supply operations are improving, but they still have a long way to go, say Pentagon officials and outside experts.

Alan Estevez, principal deputy assistant defense secretary for logistics and materiel readiness, offered anecdotes of improvement before a Senate panel Tuesday. There is a steady flow of equipment out of Iraq as the U.S. military remains on track to reduce total troop strength to 50,000 by the end of August. In Afghanistan, troops and commanders report that "for the most part, they are receiving the material as they need it when they need it," Estevez told the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs subcommittee on government management.

Still, he acknowledged that the department's ability to forecast demand needs improvement and the department has several initiatives underway to do that.

The Government Accountability Office has listed the Defense Department's supply chain operations on its biennial "high-risk list" since 1990. Federal operations on the list are deemed as having serious management weaknesses that put at risk substantial sums of money or critical services.

"I wish we could get off this [high-risk] list probably more than anyone out there," Estevez told the panel.

Estevez's office this month released a new logistics strategic plan. GAO's director of defense capabilities and management, Jack Edwards, said the plan lacks details "on how or when the goals and initiatives will be achieved."

The plan also does not spell out the resources needed for implementation, Edwards added.