UNCLASSIFIED
ROUTINE
R 011654Z NOV 16
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INFO CNO WASHINGTON DC
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NAVADMIN 246/16

MSGID/GENADMIN/CNO WASHINGTON DC/N4/NOV//

SUBJ/ENDURING ENERGY ACTION FOR MORE COMBAT CAPABILITY//

POC/KEN HESS/CIV/CNO WASHINGTON DC/N453/TEL: 703-695-5077//E-MAIL:
kenneth.hess@navy.mil//

RMKS/1.  Energy Action Month 2016 closes out today.  As it ends, I ask our 
warriors around the Navy to treat today as the beginning of next year’s 
journey toward achieving a more secure energy future.

2.  During Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom, our adversaries 
frequently targeted the Achilles heel of our logistics chain - the convoys 
that brought massive amounts of fuel and other supplies to resupply the front 
lines.  During these conflicts, we learned some hard lessons. We’re learning 
from them as we tackle ways to reduce the amount of liquid fuel used by 
deployed forces.  It’s about using less fuel to gain more enduring combat 
capability.  Reducing the number of convoys required to accomplish the 
mission means less exposure to attacks and less operational threats to our 
personnel.  These are at the core of why we have pursued energy efficiencies 
and that effort transcends every military operational landscape on land, at 
sea and in the air.

3.  For our sea services, refueling ships, aircraft or tactical vehicles is a 
key capability essential to persistent presence worldwide.  We do it 
extraordinarily well, but as we know, the refueling process impacts our 
maneuverability, agility and logistics at sea.  If platforms can travel 
farther on a gallon of fuel or remain longer on station in a mission-ready 
posture without refueling as frequently, we enhance our persistent combat 
capability and that ultimately saves lives.

4.  You can take great pride in the accomplishments of our worldwide 
deployment of the 2016 Great Green Fleet that focused on getting more fight 
with less fuel.  The number of units involved in these efforts in every 
theater is impressive; you have pushed the envelope in experimenting with 
technology, operational concepts, and alternative sources afloat and ashore 
that better sustain our operations in every way.

5.  We can’t stop there.  We have an obligation to those who have gone before 
us to dedicate and challenge ourselves to ensuring our adversaries never 
exploit energy to achieve an advantage or use it against us.  We should all 
remember a line from a poem written after World War I by Archibald MacLeish, 
We leave you our deaths, give them their meaning.   The loss of life and 
sacrifices we suffered in our most recent conflicts can’t be in vain.  The 
choices we make today and in the future can have life and death consequences 
for our sailors who stand the watch every day.  Our energy management actions 
impact operational risks for the Navy and our nation.  We need to take these 
lessons to heart for the next fight, wherever that may occur, and in whatever 
environment.

6.  This is not about saving fuel or saving money; if it does, that’s an 
extra benefit that we must reinvest.  In the end, this is all about our 
combat capability and what it means to you, our warfighters.  Our goal is to 
extend time on station and ensure we are where it matters, when it matters.  
History may not repeat itself, but it sure does rhyme.  During World War II, 
Fleet Admiral Ernest King said oil is ammunition to emphasize the connection 
between energy, logistics, and warfighting.  It remains so today and with the 
advent of energy weapons envisioned in the coming decades it will literally 
be true.  We won’t need rocket motors, powder casings or even explosive 
warheads.  Electricity and energy itself will take the place of all three.  
In the meantime, all of us must positively disrupt the energy future for our 
entire naval enterprise.  We must get more combat capability out of every 
gallon, btu and kilowatt hour.  Simply put, power yields more presence.

7.  Our access to and use of energy must continue to be secure, reliable and 
resilient.  As we net the Navy together for the future, we must ensure all 
parts of the net are secure to support our ships, submarines, and aircraft.  
To get this right across the continuum of land and sea, we must realize the 
shore is an integral part of this equation since it serves as the backbone 
from which our forces fly, sail, submerge, and communicate.  We must 
therefore guard against vulnerabilities throughout our entire netted kill 
chain.

8.  Each of us has a role to play, regardless of warfare specialty or whether 
were Sailors or Navy civilians because were all part of one Navy team.  As we 
continue to incorporate new and innovative energy technologies and efficiency 
practices across our operational and shore platforms, now and into the 
future, the stakes are too high not to get it right.

9. Looking across all Navy communities, we must recognize that Energy Action 
Month does not end October 31.  Today, I challenge you to think about the 
future and do your part in this important endeavor to honor and to give 
meaning to the lives of those who made the ultimate sacrifice.  Past and 
future sailors deserve nothing less than our full commitment.

10.  Released by VADM P.H. Cullom, N4.//

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