DC Velocity - June 2010

acrossthedock

saving energy … and lives

Re: “going green to save lives,” May 2010

Congrats on a great article in DC VELOCITY, which was sent to me by a buddy working at HQMC [Headquarters Marine Corps].

By way of introduction, I am a recently retired Army General Officer (retired in November ’09). I was Gen. Petraeus’s senior logistician in Iraq and served as the MNF-I C4 [Commanding General, Multi-National Force – Iraq, Logistics Directorate] from August ’06 to November ’07 and believe there is a compelling energy story to be told about the military’s use—and misuse—of fuel in Iraq and Afghanistan, and would like to help tell it.

Here’s the deal: In Iraq and Afghanistan, we’re getting troops and contractors killed
often because we’re hauling fuel that we shouldn’t need. I am not overstating this—over
1,000 troops have been killed moving/escorting fuel convoys in CENTCOM AOR [U.S.
Central Command Area of Operations], and even the U.K. claims “160 British military
have been killed on fuel missions in Afghanistan.”
The majority of our logistics tail is consumed hauling fuel—and the vast majority of
ground fuel is being used to heat or air-condition tents, CHUs [Containerized Housing
Units, sometimes converted shipping containers], and C-huts [prefabricated metal bar-
racks] in living and working areas; again, I know because I tracked it daily over there. A sin-
gle large circus tent used for housing consumes 700 gallons of fuel each day in a harsh the-
ater like Iraq and Afghanistan. If we did something as simple as insulate these expeditionary
living and working structures, we would significantly cut our energy requirements—and
take fuel trucks off the road. In doing so, we
would save countless lives and dollars.

One of the last things I did [at the Pentagon] … before my retirement last November was to commission a study on the impact of foam insulation (a two-inch layer of polyurethane foam sprayed on the exterior of tents) on 1,000 structures in Iraq. In July ’09, AMSAA [Army Materiel Systems Analysis Activity] concluded, in a detailed and scientifically robust report, that the initial effort to insulate approximately 1,000 temporary structures in Iraq is taking almost 1,000 fuel trucks off the road and producing $65M in fuel cost avoidance annually. In other words, insulating our structures in theater is an absolute no-brainer and win-win for troops and taxpayers.

Of course, saving money is great, but reducing risks to our troops and taking “IED targets” off the road is the top priority. It all starts with the military here in town [Washington, D.C.] developing policy and taking more aggressive steps to cut energy [use] at the point of need—in doing this, we save lives and boatloads of money in fuel and infrastructure costs.

Letters should be written exclusively to DC VELOCITY and may contain thoughts, comments, suggestions and criticisms of both DC VELOCITY and developments in the supply chain field. They should not exceed 200 words and may be edited for clarity. The decision to publish or not to publish is solely at the discretion of the editor.

All letters must include the author’s daytime phone number. Send submissions to: “To the Editor,” DC VELOCITY, 500 East Washington St., Suite 4, N. Attleboro, MA 02760 or to peter@dcvelocity.com with “To the Editor” in the subject line. letters to the editor