Army Energy Leader

Richard Kidd has become the Army's top official solely devoted to energy issues -- moving over from a key energy management job in the Energy Department at a time when service leaders are emphasizing a focus on energy efficiencies and other energy initiatives, Defense Environment Alert reports this morning:

Speaking during an Oct. 27 press conference just two days after assuming his new position as the Army's deputy assistant secretary for energy and partnerships, Kidd said the Army has an opportunity to lead on energy issues. No other federal agency can drive the agenda like the Army, he said, referring to the large number of buildings the Army owns. With the Army owning half the buildings in the Defense Department, it is highly unlikely DOD will meet its energy goals without the Army on-board with those goals, he said at a press conference at the Association of the United States Army annual meeting in Washington, DC. Top Army officials including Army Under Secretary Joseph Westphal and Vice Chief of Staff Peter Chiarelli also spoke at the AUSA conference about energy security and energy goals of the service.

"With more buildings and more fuel burned in ground vehicles than any other federal entity, the Army has a tremendous opportunity to better use energy and expand operational flexibility through enhanced energy efficiency," Kidd said in an Oct. 27 press release on his appointment.

Kidd, who moved to the Army from his position as program manager of DOE's Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP), is responsible for designing and implementing the Army's strategic and operational energy policy. Kidd reports to Army Assistant Secretary for Installations, Energy & Environment Katherine Hammack, who has a strong background in energy and green buildings. Hammack was confirmed in her position in August. FEMP is responsible for facilitating cost-effective energy management in the federal government and investment practices to further energy security and environmental stewardship, according to a DOE website.

Hammack praised Kidd's appointment, saying in the press release that with Kidd's experience, "the Army will continue laying the groundwork and advance energy security and sustainability efforts in a meaningful and measurable way. With energy and renewables at the forefront of national policy, the time is right to have someone with his expertise."

During the press conference, Kidd also reiterated remarks by Westphal about the need for collaboration among federal agencies and within departments. Kidd stressed the need to ensure the many different efforts on energy in the Army, services and at DOE are aligned and not redundant or wasteful.

His appointment comes as DOD and the services are emphasizing energy issues, pushing more alternative and renewable energy sources and greater energy efficiencies, framing them as a national security matter.

InsideDefense.com reported late last month that the Army had identified six critical areas in which it hopes to develop capabilities to support energy management required for combat operations, with service officials preparing to launch an Army-wide effort to refine its needs and reshape its investment plans to develop and acquire technologies designed to improve its efficiency in future missions:

The Army Capabilities Integration Center, part of the service's Training and Doctrine Command, has completed a draft of an initial capabilities document that fleshes out energy attributes and metrics, a first step toward realigning the service's materiel development efforts, science and technology investments and training in a bid to influence the Army's fiscal years 2014 to 2019 spending plan.

"Next, we plan to lay out an operational energy campaign plan," Lt. Gen. Michael Vane, head of the ARCIC, said Oct. 27 during a brief interview. The plan is being designed to both reassess current Army energy initiatives in light of the new requirements document as well as possibly launch new programs.

By harnessing new tools with potential to give commanders the ability to monitor energy status across the force, the Army hopes to convert its enormous need for fuel, water and electricity from a liability to an operational advantage, according to Vane. Through new methods of accounting for energy, the service aims to break with a long-standing practice of viewing it as an unconstrained resource that receives little attention in operational planning and adopt a holistic view of its requirements and utilization, Vane added.

To that end, the Army is about to circulate its draft operational energy initial capabilities document for comment to key leaders in the Pentagon and then "release it to the world," said Col. Paul Roege, special assistant to Vane for energy issues.