other threats. “We have to get Marines off the road,” says
Maj. Patrick Reynolds, who works at the new Experimental
Forward Operating Base, which is located in Quantico, Va.
Sustainable solutions
And that’s where sustainability comes in. Reducing consumption of fuel and bottled water at the forward operating
bases would reduce the need for convoys, which in turn
would reduce the risk to Marines on the convoy trucks.
Making the bases more self-sufficient would have another
benefit as well: It would reduce their exposure to supply line
disruptions. Right now, a successful attack on a convoy could
cut off the base from its source of supply, and if the situation
persisted, even jeopardize its ability to continue its mission.
Researchers at the lab are currently looking at ways to use
commercial, off-the-shelf technologies to make the bases’
operations more sustainable. They’re investigating methods
of making shelters more energy efficient, so less fuel will be
required to heat or cool them. They’re looking at solar and
photovoltaic technologies as possible “off the grid” energy-
generation solutions that don’t require fuel transport. And
they’re testing micro-purification plants, which could be
used at the company level, as a means of allowing Marines
to make use of wells, rivers, or canals for drinking water.
Steve Geary is president of Supply Chain Visions Inc. and an editor at large for
