society. Yet, this size has also created a bureaucratic
behemoth with at least four heads. By definition, be-
coming sustainable requires a more tightly integrat-
ed system to simultaneously consider the economic,
environmental, and national security linkages. This
cannot be done on a Service-by-Service basis, as it is
counterproductive for a single Service to lead in a sus-
tainable effort if other Services are enabling, or pro-
moting, unsustainable practices. Duplicity of effort
and spreading limited dollars across four services to
address similar problems is not an efficient approach.
Therefore, a ‘purple force’ approach is necessary
if DOD seeks to lead on this front. While DOD has
demonstrated interdependency in operations, it is
still largely service segregated in its acquisition ef-
forts (Matisoo 2008). This is a significant obstacle to
inculcating the sustainability concepts as the ‘norm,’
which the Strategic Sustainability Performance Plan
specifies is a goal for all Services to achieve. Con-
founding this further is while there does need to be
purple approach, a totally centralized management
structure will also not enable DOD to achieve all of its
sustainability goals. It is imperative to find a balance
between a central infrastructure while simultaneously
taking advantage of local/regional or service specific
opportunities.
Conclusions
The Department of Defense has an impressive
record of environmental initiatives and is on a trajec-
tory to become a leader in sustainability by integrat-
ing these environmental initiatives with economic
and social concerns as a way to protect national se-
curity. This emphasis on sustainability should not be