As part of Navy Expeditionary Combat Command (NECC)/NECC Pacific's 15-year energy plan, expeditionary forces have continued to monitor their fuel usage since 2008 as part of overall Energy Conservation Measures and have seen a 78 percent reduction in overall usage.

NECC and its forces are focused on three key energy objectives to increase combat capability, which include increasing energy efficiency for equipment, increasing alternative energy use in expeditionary operations, and changing how equipment is used in expeditionary operations.

Carter Green, who is assigned to NECC's N43 department, discussed the importance of tracking fuel usage by expeditionary forces.

"The fuel reporting tool is used to gage whether we are increasing or decreasing our fuel's usage each year," said Green, who added NECC has seen a 78 percent drop in fuel usage since 2008. "Our usage has dropped accordingly from 3.1 million gallons in 2008 to just over 800,000 in 2016."

While part of the decline in fuel usage is attributed to a decrease in the number of forces forward deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan, for example, it is also attributed to the various ECMs being used throughout the expeditionary forces.

"Energy is critical to NECC's ability to provide global presence needed to ensure stability, deter potential adversaries, and present options during a crisis -- wherever, whenever they occur," said Capt. Heather Walton, NECC's N43 department head.

Walton added NECC enterprise Tactical Command Control (NETC2) uses advanced medium mobile power systems (AAMMPS), improved Environmental Control Units (IECUs), light-emitting diode (LED) lighting, and tent liners to reduce energy usage in the Combat Operations Centers (COCs) by 35 percent.

"By utilizing the NETC2, which includes AMMPS, IECUs, LEDs, and tent liners, fuel consumption has been reduced from 11.09 to 7.92 gallons per hour," said Lt. James Kwasny, who is assigned to N43 and assists with compiling data for NECC's fuel reporting tool.

NECC units that report their fuel usage across the type command include Naval Construction Group 1, Naval Construction Group 2, Explosive Ordnance Group 1, Explosive Ordnance Group 2, Coastal Riverine Group 1, Coastal Riverine Group 2, Expeditionary Combat Readiness Center, and Navy Expeditionary Logistics Support Group.

The Navy's energy efficiency initiatives provide us with a combat advantage -- using energy efficiently enables us to go farther, stay longer and deliver more firepower. It provides us a strategic advantage, because using alternative fuels creates flexibility and brings us closer to energy independence.

NECC/NECC Pacific is an enduring warfighting force providing sea-to-shore and inland operating environment capabilities across the full range of military operations that is focused on delivering combat effective expeditionary forces ready for worldwide operations now and into the future. In 2015, NECC/NECC Pacific completed 135 missions in 79 countries, across seven continents in support of six geographic and three functional combatant commands.

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