Hardening the Army’s installations across the world against growing threats requires a “sustained and focused effort,” the service’s assistant deputy chief of staff for installations, G-9, said.
The Army is prioritizing a targeted approach to rapidly get energy and technology to soldiers at the point of need, said Brandon Cockrell, deputy assistant secretary of the Army for energy and sustainability.
“The Army's [focus] is knowing that we have to deliver the energy when it’s needed, where it’s needed and at the level that it’s needed,” Cockrell said May 8 during a Noon Report webinar hosted by the Association of the U.S. Army. “That is such a critical and crucial piece moving forward, and that’s ... our strategy as we’re driving through this.”
As the force transforms to effectively counter emerging threats, so too must the Army’s installations.
“The homeland is no longer a sanctuary,” said Brandon Cockrell, deputy assistant secretary of the Army for energy and sustainability. “So, if the homeland is not a sanctuary, then the installations that are in the homeland are no longer a sanctuary, and if installations are the Army’s home, to me, this is where it gets personal.”
A House subcommittee will urge the Army to concentrate on common battery charging systems rather than relying on so many different types.
In its draft report on the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act, the House Armed Services Committee’s subcommittee on readiness asks the Army to do what the Marine Corps has been trying to do since 2016. “Common charging solutions exist,” the report says. “The Army’s use of such platforms has been limited in scope and capability.”
As the Army works to electrify its combat vehicles, it will not compromise combat effectiveness, a senior Army leader said.
Strong partnerships outside the fences of Army installations and more training are critical to building energy resiliency inside the fence line, according to a panel of energy experts.
During a discussion at a recent Association of the U.S. Army Hot Topic on installation management, the panelists agreed that there must be more than one resident expert to make sure any on-post microgrid will operate as intended and assure uninterrupted power during a blackout.
A wave of new technology, recognition that fossil fuels won’t be around forever and concerns regarding climate change have led to expanding nationa
As climate change continues to impact many aspects of modern life, the Army must prepare for its effects on installations and operations, a panel of experts said during a discussion hosted by the Association of the U.S. Army.
Climate change is “a challenge that does not respect borders or boundaries, including the fence line of a military base,” said Sharon Burke, founder and president of Ecospherics and a former assistant secretary of defense for operational energy.
While energy conservation has been a big issue on Army installations, that doesn’t work for everything, Lt. Gen. Duane Gamble, Army deputy chief of staff for logistics, told a House subcommittee.
Reducing energy demands is important, Gamble told the House Armed Services Committee’s readiness subcommittee, but “the future force may often require more energy to support such new capabilities such as directed-energy weapons,” he said.
The Trump administration’s nominee to serve as assistant Army secretary for installations, energy and environment says predictable, adequate, sustained and timely funding is needed to improve Army posts and installations.
