Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Nitze (DDG 94) was awarded the Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV) Energy Conservation's top award in the surface combatant medium/large category Oct. 11.

Deployed as part of the Great Green Fleet, Nitze earned the award for leading Navy conservation while in underway fuel burn, in-port and underway energy-saving procedures, training, and innovation.

Commissioned in 2005, the ship has a stern flap which reduces the ship's drag through the water and conserves fuel. The ship maximizes the time it has three of its four engines offline to further conserve. Additionally, when mission tasking permits, Nitze secures all of her main engines and drifts ship for several hours.

The crew also implemented light-emitting diode (LED) lighting throughout the ship, and had a new thermal management control system installed to reduce the amount of energy used when heating and cooling the ship.

"Energy conservation is a critical mission area for USS Nitze," said Cmdr. Paul J. Kaylor, the ship's commanding officer. "All of our Sailors realize that by reducing our energy footprint, it thereby allows us to allocate those additional resources towards other mission areas, making us an even more capable ship among the fleet. I am proud to know that 'Team Nitze' has played a significant role in meeting the secretary of the Navy's goals in energy conservation."

The SECNAV Energy Conservation award was established to recognize and promote excellence in energy management and energy conservation within the Department of the Navy. These efficiency efforts are integral to the development of warfighting capabilities which result in choices for the operational commanders.

Nitze, deployed as part of the Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group, is supporting maritime security operations and theater security cooperation efforts in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations.

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