Energy for the Warfighter: The DoD Operational Energy Strategy

April 10, 2015
ME Lecture Hall
1300

Sam Clements

Deputy Director of Mission Assurance in the office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Energy, Installations, and Environment

Abstract

The Department of Defense is the single largest consumer of energy in the U.S., and nearly seventy-five percent of this energy is “operational energy” used to power vehicles, ships, aircraft, and tactical power generation systems. Energy markets, fiscal needs, and evolving military threats will challenge this heavy reliance on energy, and create the imperative for transforming how the Department uses energy in military operations. Signed in April 2014 the DoD Energy Policy (DoD 4180.01) builds off the Department’s Operational Energy Strategy which identifies how to achieve energy security for the warfighter by assuring that U.S. forces have a reliable supply of energy for 21st century military missions. To reach this goal, the Strategy provides a three-fold approach that addresses demand, supply, and the future force. First, the Department will reduce demand for energy in military operations by improving the ability to measure operational energy consumption and increasing the efficiency of energy use to enhance combat effectiveness. Second, the Department will expand and secure energy supplies for military operations by diversifying its energy sources and protecting access to energy supplies. Finally, the Department will build energy security into the future force by integrating operational energy considerations into the full range of planning and force development activities. The Department is implementing this strategy with a coordinated and targeted set of "near-", "mid-", and long-term goals associated with energy demand, supply, and the future force.

Biography

Mr. Sam Clements is the Deputy Director of Mission Assurance in the office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Energy, Installations, and Environment. In this role, Sam focuses on operational-energy risk analysis in partnership with other DoD risk management and readiness programs. He is currently overseeing four studies addressing fuel and electricity supply issues faced by U.S. Pacific Command, U.S. Africa Command, U.S. Forces Korea, and the U.S. Air Force. He is also working closely with the Department of Energy investigating ways in which DoD can help meet the forthcoming National Large Power Transformer Strategy. Additionally Sam participates in the development of Department of Defense cyber policy regarding control systems security.

Prior to working in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Sam was a research scientist at the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), where he worked extensively on projects at the intersection of the critical infrastructure and cyber security. While there he aided utilities nationwide in strengthening their cyber security programs through the ARRA Smart Grid Investment Grant program. As part of this project he has visited utilities and got a boots on the ground view of their systems and programs to protect those systems. Sam was also a member of the DOE Global Critical Energy Infrastructure Protection (GCEIP) program that performs assessments worldwide of critical infrastructures important to the US. Under this effort he evaluated some of the Middle East’s largest refineries, ports, power, and desalination plants, and provided recommendations to better secure the energy infrastructure. As an outgrowth of the GCEIP work, where he observed first-hand the interconnected nature of physical security systems, he kicked off a research and development project to integrate physical and cyber security assessment tools into one capability.

Sam’s educational background focuses on the area between highly technical scientists and engineers and senior management. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Utah State University in Business Information Systems and a master’s degree from Carnegie Mellon University in Information Security Policy and Management. He is married and the father of 4 with number 5 expected in July.

POC

Dr. Daniel A. Nussbaum
Naval Postgraduate School 
Principal, Energy Academic Group
Monterey CA 93943
Phone: 831-656-2387
Mobile: 831-324-3228
Email: dnussbaum@nps.edu