Part I. Establishing the Context
Recognizing Sustainability as an Operational
Necessity
The Chief of Staff of the Army, General Casey, de-
scribed the evolving character of persistent conflict to
have trends that include failing states, resource de-
mand, climate change and globalization (Casey 2011).
Further, he states that “[f]uture conflicts will be unpre-
dictable and may arise suddenly, expand rapidly into
unanticipated locations, and last for unexpected dura-
tions” (Casey^ 2009, 27). The common denominator in
these threats is the need for quick response forces that
are sustainable at a level beyond our current capability
that is vulnerable due to dependence on liquid fossil
fuel among other things. Sustainability has evolved
in the Army vernacular. It was formally introduced
in the 2004 Army Strategy for the Environment that
used sustainability as its foundation paradigm with
a systems approach for the Triple Bottom line: Mis-
sion, Environment and Community (Schoomaker and
Brownlee 2004, 1). Over the past 7 years, leadership
has come to the realization that the triple bottom line
is a concept that extends well beyond environmental
stewardship. In fact, it is applicable to every con-
tingency scenario in the Army’s deployment plans.
Sustainability is a capabilities enabler by enhancing
the lethality, agility, versatility, and interoperability
of the force. In addition, it is now synonymous with
survivability for both deployed soldiers and host na-
tion populations due to the critical nature of natural
resources and operational energy needs.
Reducing reliance on fossil fuels has been a na-
tional goal for several years for both environmental