Defense Management: Overarching Organizational Framework Needed to Guide and Oversee Energy Reduction Efforts for Military Operations

In DOD's response to our draft report, although DOD acknowledged that there is a need to view and manage its energy challenges in a new, more systematic manner, their response stated that DOD Directive 5134.01 (Dec. 9, 2005) provides the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics oversight and policy-making authority on DOD energy matters. However, it is clear from our review, including discussions with department officials, that neither the Under Secretary nor any official from this office is providing comprehensive oversight and policy guidance for mobility energy across the department. DOD's current approach to mobility energy is decentralized, with fuel oversight and management responsibilities diffused among several OSD and military service offices as well as working groups. DOD does not assign responsibility for fuel reduction considerations - either singly or jointly - to any of the various offices involved in fuel management. While we acknowledge that DOD has begun to increase management attention on mobility energy issues by creating the DOD Energy Security Task Force, the department does not have an implementation team, with dedicated resources and funding, for mobility energy issues. The task force's current structure does not ensure department wide communication of fuel-reduction efforts, particularly among the military services, which are responsible for most of these efforts. Based on DOD's response to our draft recommendation, we made minor modifications to the recommendation to emphasize that DOD should designate an executive-level OSD mobility energy official - supported by an implementation team - who is accountable for mobility energy matters and who sets the direction, pace, and tone to reduce mobility energy demand across the department. Congress subsequently included a provision in the Duncan Hunter National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2009 that required a DOD Director of Operational Energy Plans and Programs. The act defined operational energy similarly to mobility energy--that is, energy required for moving and sustaining forces and weapons platforms for military operations. In June 2010, the Senate confirmed the nominee for Director of Operational Energy Plans and Programs. DOD's establishment of this position implements our recommendation. Furthermore, it is a key step toward creating an overarching organizational framework, which can provide greater assurance that the department's efforts to reduce its reliance on petroleum-based fuel will succeed and that it is well positioned to address future operational energy challenges, both within the department and as a stakeholder in national energy security dialogues.

DOD issued an operational energy strategy and implementation plan that together meet the intent of this recommendation. In June 2011, DOD published a strategy entitled "Energy for the Warfighter: Operational Energy Strategy." In March 2012, DOD published an associated implementation plan entitled "Operational Energy Strategy: Implementation Plan." The strategy and implementation plan set forth goals and objectives, and the implementation plan assigns responsibilities for key tasks and specifies milestones and reporting requirements aimed at providing accountability for implementing the strategy. Finally, the implementation plan states that a new Defense Operational Energy Board will develop, by the end of fiscal year 2012, performance metrics to promote the energy efficiency of military operations.

DOD has taken steps that satisfy the intent of this recommendation. DOD's 2012 operational energy implementation plan identifies key tasks, assigns responsibilities, establishes milestones, and requires reporting and oversight of progress. A key task identified in the implementation plan is to include operational energy in the requirements process. Specifically, DOD states in this plan that a forthcoming Joint Staff policy will meet the congressional intent for an energy performance attribute in the requirements development process. The Joint Requirements Oversight Council and Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff will oversee implementation of this effort in individual programs. Another key task identified in the implementation plan is to apply operational energy analyses to defense acquisitions. The plan states that, in accordance with a forthcoming policy from the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, the military departments will develop and apply "fully burdened cost of energy" analyses throughout the acquisition process. DOD's plan establishes a milestone of 3rd quarter, fiscal year 2012, for both of these tasks, and also requires DOD components to report on their overall implementation progress to the Defense Operational Energy Board, which provides oversight on operational energy matters.

Each of the military departments has established senior energy officials to provide leadership and accountability over energy matters, including mobility energy matters, within their departments. These actions met the intent of our recommendation.