surprising, as the military has often been at the fore-
front of significant societal and technological change
(e.g. racial integration, robotics) (French 2005). En-
vironmental sustainability offers yet another venue
for the military to take a leadership role in American
society. This chapter offers a sweeping, but limited,
view of all that is happening throughout the DOD
to promote sustainability. Despite the breadth of en-
deavor, there is still much room to expand efforts to
become a global leader in sustainability. Using tools
like LCA can highlight the interconnectedness among
environmental, economic, and social issues relevant
to a product or service. It will also make clear there
is no perfect option. Because of its size and diversity,
DOD is well-positioned to lead us to a more sustain-
able future by offering the economies of scale to make
wholesale changes in our energy, water, and resource
uses. These have far reaching implications for both
local and global economies as well as for helping to
reduce threats of conflict.
Durant (2007) posits we did not well prepare for
the military necessities of a post Cold War world.
The current push toward a sustainability-focused
military offers an opportunity to not repeat history
by fully embracing all evidence of interrelationships
among the environment, social, and economic condi-
tions, which are central to the military responsibility
to protect national security. This requires a continued
shift in the military culture such that the final goals
in the Strategic Sustainability Performance Plan (sus-
tainability practices are the norm and sustainability is
built into the DOD management systems) are realized.
Achieving this requires the DOD to more thoroughly
integrate efforts across the Services and fund sustain-
able initiatives appropriately. The Services working
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