GAO: Pentagon needs to better manage battlefield fuel consumption

On average, U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan consume more than 68 million gallons of fuel every month. Moving all that diesel and jet fuel across hostile terrain creates a tremendous amount of risk that could be mitigated if the Pentagon took a more comprehensive approach to reducing the military's energy demands on the battlefield, said William Solis, director of defense capabilities and management at the Government Accountability Office.

Solis testified on Tuesday before the House Armed Services Committee's readiness panel about GAO's findings in a report released at the hearing.

"Transporting large quantities of fuel to forward-deployed locations presents an enormous logistics burden and risk," Solis said. In June 2008, for example, 44 trucks delivering 220,000 gallons of fuel to Bagram Air Field in Afghanistan were lost due to attacks and other events, he said.

While the Defense Department has a number of research-and-development efforts under way to reduce fuel demand, it "lacks an effective approach to enable widespread implementation and sustained attention to fuel demand issues" at remote battlefield locations, Solis said.

While military weapons use a lot of fuel, the single-largest battlefield fuel consumers are the generators needed to power the air conditioners, heaters, lighting, refrigeration and communications that define contemporary battlefield operations management.

Some of those research-and-development efforts include insulating military tents with foam to make them more energy efficient; using more fuel-efficient generators; and adopting renewable and alternative energy technology initiatives.

While the Pentagon wants to cut back on its dependence on petroleum-based fuel for both operational and economic reasons, it will be challenged to do so, "because managing fuel demand at forward-deployed locations has not been a departmental priority and its fuel reduction efforts have not been well-coordinated or comprehensive," Solis said.

Alan Shaffer, executive director of the Defense Energy Task Force at the Pentagon, said the department takes the issue seriously, noting that its investment in energy security and related projects had grown from $440 million in 2006 to $1.3 billion in 2009.

Shaffer also said the department would soon release an Energy Security Strategic Plan that would provide a framework for energy management across the department.

Rep. Solomon Ortiz, D-Texas, chairman of the Readiness Subcommittee, said, "Reducing operational fuel demand can enhance the operational effectiveness of our forces and save taxpayer dollars."

"Fuel logistics represent up to 70 percent of the materiel the Army ships into battle according to a Defense Science Board report. Forces responsible for providing protection to fuel convoys are put at risk and are diverted from other missions," Ortiz said.