CLEVELAND, Ohio - The Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Energy and Sustainability, J.E. "Jack" Surash, P.E. took part in the Deputy Assistant Secretary Roundtable panel at Energy Exchange where all three military services collaborated and shared their perspective on energy resilience and how to work with industry to accomplish energy resilience objectives across all installations.
Panelists joining the roundtable included: Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, Lisa Jung; Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Jim Balocki; and Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Air Force, Mark Correll.
Hosted by the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, the 2018 Energy Exchange presented a national-level opportunity to expand knowledge, training, broaden practices and gain insight on various challenges facing the Department of Defense (DoD) and the industry related to energy security, resilience, and efficiency.
Throughout the roundtable, Mr. Surash emphasized the importance to improve energy resilience to enable Army readiness. He stressed that reliable and resilient access to power is critical to maintain the functionality of utility infrastructure, energy systems and superior military operational power and readiness for assured continuity of Army missions.
Mr. Surash expanded on the several programs and initiatives the Army uses to address energy resilience across the installations. He affirmed important guidance from Army Directive 2017-07, Army Energy and Water Security Policy, to establish a goal to secure critical missions on Installations by providing necessary energy and water for at least two weeks.
"The implementation of this policy allows the Army to prepare for and assure mission readiness, improving resilience in the event of a grid disruption," he said. He discussed how the Army Directive policy and gap analysis techniques including, Installation Status Report-Mission Capacity and provide guidance as to how the Army can measure, address and evaluate any gaps within the installation. The gap analysis allows the Army to pursue energy projects with a sound business case and to ensure continuity of the mission. Mr. Surash indicated the information provided by the gap analysis will help target projects that support operational readiness.
Mr. Surash also discussed how the Army uses third-party financing mechanisms to provide resilient solutions. These unique solutions help the Army accomplish its goal to secure project development of critical missions to provide resilient energy and water. These projects help the Army attain their goal of accomplishing resiliency at critical mission installations.
The Deputy Assistant Secretary Roundtable event encouraged collaboration between the services and industries to promote the importance of energy readiness, security, and resilience in support of the warfighter at not just Army installations, but all Department of Defense installations.
Related Links:
Assistant Secretary of Defense for Energy, Installations and Environment
Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army, Energy and Sustainability
Federal Energy Management Program, Department of Energy
Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Installations, Environment and Energy
Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Installations and Facilities
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