Army Moves Out Strong in 2009 on Energy Policy

What makes this news stand out? Well for one thing, it's not about facilities; it's about weapon systems. Army Acquisition Exec Dean Popps just signed an important a new Army energy document ... a memo with a distribution list, as you'll see, that includes every Army senior in every significant org (at least I think so). And it's not just the address list, it's what it says that's amazing:

All new Army acquisition programs, to include new program starts and new increments, with end items that consume energy shall include the fully burdened cost of energy needed to operate the system in their total ownership cost analysis. This direction applies to all acquisition category level programs, including information systems.

Excellent. And to keep this post from going too long, I'll single out one more gem though there are many more. An objective listed under the heading "Energy Productivity" states:

Our goal is to reduce the risks associated with energy supply and demand while maintaining needed operational capabilities.

Not surprisingly, the Army is proud of what it is accomplishing and shows a lot of its work here. You can say what you want about how long it's taking energy strategy to be implemented in DOD, but this document, released to kick off the new year, has me very excited about what to expect next from the Army. OSD, USAF, USN ... you paying attention ?!?