How the U.S. Military Is Trying to Cut Its Enormous Energy Appetite

Fuel economy does matter

During World War II, during the battle of the bulge, the Germans had far superior tanks, but ran out of gas. In fact the German air force had to also severely limit their operations because of NO GAS!

The best tank in the world won't do you any good if it has no fuel to run on.

Back then, the American Jeeps had 4 cylinders engines, light, could go anywhere, and they were good on gas! The oversize hummers are lousy on gas and need to be replaced.

War is about waste, but good logistics requires fuel economy to be a much larger factor in the overall equation than it is right now.

Anti-War atheist cites church investments in "defense"

The pope and other preachers pray for peace, but we never get a good look at church investment portfolios. In the l970's, Martin Larson published a book mentioning some church investments in GE, Lockheed, GD, and other corporations that get tax paid military contracts. I haven't web-peeked yet, but will, to see if any site mentions church investments. Of course, that means churches defend capitalism against socialist governments. So we've had many US military "incursions" into places like anti=capitalist N. Korea, N. Nam, Sandinista Nicaragua, Allende Chile, Castro Cuba, Mossadegh Iran, etc. Some of them are or were "godless." As we know, corporations like having invocations at colleges and before meetings of civil legislatures. A big advance to world peace would be an exposure of church investments, but that day will come..never. Ike waited until just before leaving office before he WARNED against "the military=industrial complex." Even he didn't dare say "the military-industrial church portfolio complex." The article is interesting when it says airplane weight is reduced (by what seem to be trivial removals), but they really work to save fuel.

Severe Ratio problems

I think the writer of the article needs to learn about decimal points. The multiplication and division suffer from factors of 10/100/1000.

Saving Fuel

As a military dependent, I'm on installations constantly. It is incredibly sad to go by a govt vehicle and see it un-manned, yet running. When I see the driver, I remind him/her. Attitudes have got to change...people have got to care.

Riiiight

Army Economy?

Where?

25mph? 30 miles between charges? Built by Chrysler?

American crap all over!!!

Built by a ***** corporation with ***** technology, sold at a **** price to **** who are going yes sir! And rush into **** decisions!

“We use less energy” (wrong, at that level of efficiency, forget the economy; electricity IS energy and according to the specs, not used as it could be (look at the Japanese gulf carts!)) pay way too much for a product that is worthless (but then again, the GVT can afford excesses, right) and claim to be ‘all we can be in an army of one’.

Riiiight.

The only positive thing is that the money stays in US, not that it does any good with corporations that have fought (and still fight) against any effort to modernize and control both pollution and energy consumption. (Think SUV, based on truck frame to avoid pollution as well as energy requirement).

If we really want energy saving, start walking from building to building. It saves energy, keeps people in shape and gives them the time to think (if not on a mobile phone). As to think, well… Another problem to solve but with a healthy body, you can assume the mind gets clearer!

Riiiight

The military is all about waste.

Changing the military's attitude about economy is going to take a huge effort. They are all about waste and throwing things away.

From bootcamp up, recruits are taught to throw away what they don't need because there is an inexhaustible supply coming down the road.

There are stories from nam of calling up air strikes just to "watch a million dollars blow up"

Ex-military people are notorious around my company for squandering supplies and just wasting stuff for the sheer joy of it.

Good luck trying to change that mentality.

Fuel economy programs without enforcement are futile

Have worked as a Port Engineer for major US Steamship (MSC charters), Oil as well as Cruise ship companies. Often auditing, monitoring, evangelizing, writing specifications and operational directives. But was never provided with either resources or real authority to make an impact. I could list a long list of samples but who cares? Fuel is one of the enabling essences to fight a war successfully! But fuel economy is seldom a factor to decide the outcome of wars. Instead the fuel savings do definitely have an impact on budgets, when economizing consumption and refining requirements. The cost of bunkering a ship is beyond what most people comprehend. As such, it sounds like a simple matter but that it is not. The potential in savings are worth the effort. It is nice to note somebody is addressing this matter.