ARLINGTON, Va. — Army leaders underscored the importance of partnerships, innovation, and long-term planning to strengthen installation energy and water resilience during the Association of Defense Communities Installation Energy and Water Forum, bringing together defense officials, utilities, industry partners, and community stakeholders in Arlington, Va., on January 29, 2026.
Partnerships and planning drive installation readiness
In the forum’s opening panel, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Energy and Sustainability, Brandon Cockrell emphasized that installation energy and water resilience depends on sustained partnerships, integrated planning, and early coordination with the communities and utilities that support Army installations.
Drawing on his experience at the installation level, Cockrell said the value of partnership becomes clear during real world disruptions, when restoring power and maintaining operations is a shared effort.
“Partnerships aren’t something you put on a bumper sticker,” Cockrell said, describing how utilities and installation teams work side-by-side during emergencies to protect mission continuity.
As an example, Cockrell pointed to Hurricane Helene’s impact on Fort Gordon and the speed of recovery made possible through coordination with the local power companies Approximately half of the installation regained power within two days, a result he credited to utility expertise, available equipment, and established relationships that enable rapid response.
Cockrell said attempting to replicate those capabilities internally during a regional outage would slow restoration when speed matters most, reinforcing the importance of integrating utilities and community partners into planning before an incident occurs.
“The work that matters most happens before the crisis,” Cockrell said. “When utilities and communities are part of the planning, restoration is faster, and the mission keeps moving.”
He encouraged industry and community stakeholders to engage directly with installation leadership to understand mission priorities particularly for energy and water systems that support critical facilities, so response planning and investments are aligned in advance.
Beyond infrastructure, Cockrell emphasized, “Resilience doesn’t stop at the fence line. If Soldiers and families can’t get to work, if utilities and emergency services in the surrounding community are disrupted, then the installation can’t execute its mission.”
Breaking the mold to unlock capital and accelerate capability
During a panel focused on non-traditional partnerships and infrastructure innovation, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Installations, Housing and Partnerships David Dentino highlighted how the Army is moving faster to align infrastructure development with national security priorities.
Dentino said the Army is reassessing long-standing business practices to reduce costs, accelerate timelines, and better leverage private-sector investment to meet mission needs.
“We’re trying to break the mold,” Dentino said. “The way we’ve traditionally done business won’t get us there fast enough or at a sustainable cost.”
As an example, Dentino cited the Army’s recent enhanced use lease agreement with Hanwha Defense USA to support domestic munitions production. Once the Secretary of the Army approved the initiative, source selection process was executed in approximately 120 days a timeline Dentino described as exceptionally fast by federal standards.
“That is light speed for the federal government,” Dentino said. “It only happens when you align partners around a clear mission outcome.”
Rather than focusing solely on a single facility or infrastructure output, Dentino explained that these partnerships are designed to strengthen the broader industrial base and supply chains the Army relies on. In the case of ammunition production, that includes sustaining manufacturing capacity, securing upstream suppliers, and ensuring the workforce and logistics needed to scale production during periods of increased demand.
Dentino said this same ecosystem-based approach is shaping how the Army is addressing other challenges, including barracks modernization and data center development. He noted that rising construction costs have prompted discussions with universities to better understand how they design, build, and sustain large-scale housing facilities efficiently, and how those practices might inform future Army solutions.
The Army is also pursuing data center opportunities at several installations, including Fort Hood, Fort Bragg, Fort Bliss, and Dugway Proving Ground. Dentino said those efforts are intentionally paired with energy generation, storage, and cybersecurity considerations to ensure installations can support both current missions and future growth.
“You can’t talk about data centers without talking about energy,” Dentino said. “We’re setting the conditions now so installations can scale securely and responsibly.”
Utility modernization supports readiness
During a panel on grid resilience and utility modernization, Ali Bakhshi, who oversees the Army’s Utilities Privatization Program within the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Energy and Sustainability, discussed how utility modernization supports long-term readiness.
Bakhshi said the Army’s approach is grounded in three principles: energy resilience, protection of defense critical infrastructure, and active collaboration with privatized system owners. At the installation level, energy resilience includes the ability to operate independently from the commercial grid during outages or disruptions. Bakhshi noted that utilities privatization efforts support this goal while improving reliability and security across installation systems. He emphasized that protecting defense critical infrastructure from physical and cyber threats is central to utility planning, with cybersecurity requirements increasingly embedded into contracts and oversight processes.
Utilities privatization, Bakhshi added, allows the Army to leverage private-sector expertise and investment while maintaining accountability through long-term engagement and oversight.
Looking ahead, he noted continued focus on water systems, cybersecurity, environmental compliance, and advanced energy initiatives, including the JANUS advanced microreactor program, as the Army works to strengthen installation resilience and support evolving mission demands.
Association of Defense Communities Installation Energy and Water Forum is a one-day event bringing together senior Department of Defense decision-makers, community leaders, and industry partners to discuss installation energy and water resilience, infrastructure modernization, and mission readiness.
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