Advance Your Military Career by Going Green

Whether Army, Navy, Air Force, or Marines, the government is telling the US military it needs to go green. According to the Virginia Pilot, “The U.S. military spent more than $15.2 billion on energy last year, making the Department of Defense one of the largest, biggest-spending consumers of fuel and electricity in the country, if not the world.”

Now the pentagon needs to “reduce energy use, seek cleaner alternatives, conserve water, curb wastes, construct energy-efficient buildings” which leads to a surge in job training and need for careers that cultivate energy efficiency.

According to Pentagon figures about $7.4 billion under the federal stimulus package recommended by President Barack Obama and approved by Congress in 2009, was set aside for base construction, energy conservation and clean technologies with military applications and the manpower to make it happen. While the upfront figures seem large the payoff in the end will prove to be even bigger.

Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus said in his speech at a Pentagon energy-security forum, "We're not going green for green's sake. Energy reform and the new energy future aren't about politics or slogans. It's about protecting the lives of our troops. It's about making our military better and more capable fighters. It's about making our country more secure and more independent. That's why we're doing this."

Falling short of their 15 percent goal of energy reduction at 11.2 percent between 2005 and 2010, the Pentagon is still proud of their results. This year however there was an increase of $1.8 billion in energy cost which is largely attributed to the rise in fuel prices and the closing and moving of military bases in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya. Nonetheless the government feels these numbers are proof that conservation initiatives are necessary sooner rather than later.

Temperature-controlled barracks, rain gardens to control storm water run-off, wind turbines powering special-ops training posts, rooftop vegetation, and electric vehicles are just the start of the military’s eco-revolution. Join in by using your gardening, farming and other green experience to find a fulfilling new career.


By Heather Fairchild - Heather is a multimedia developer with experience in web, film, photography and animation as well as traditional fine arts like painting and sculpting. In addition to writing for ArmedServicesJobsBlog.com, she is co-founder of design and promotion company. Heather’s spare time consists of making puppets, teaching Sunday School, building Legos and doing science experiments with her children.