Marine Corps: Oorah for Solar!

Still think green power is for sissies? Don't say that to the Marines. America's best butt-kickers are using solar power to save money, save troop backpack weight, and save lives. Outside tells of one Marine unit's experience operating in a remote and dangerous part of Afghanistan (wait: isn't that redundant?) where they were cut off for two months from fuel convoys:

But the soldiers of India 3/5 had another source of power: the sun. Specifically, they had a ground-renewable expeditionary energy system (Greens): four portable modules that fold out into two large solar panels each, all connected to a power cell to store the energy overnight. During field operations away from the patrol base, each Marine also carried a solar portable alternative communications energy system (Spaces), an eight-square-inch flexible solar panel lightweight enough (about 2.5 pounds) to be rolled up and stowed in a pack. Normally, a patrol carries enough batteries to last three or four days—20 to 35 pounds for each grunt—and is dependent on frequent and dangerous resupplies. But with the packable solar panels, says Patterson, his patrol of 35 soldiers shed 700 pounds. "We stayed out for three weeks and didn't need a battery resupply once," he says.

Two of India 3/5's forward patrol bases, in fact, were powered entirely by solar for the duration of the seven-month mission. "We were the only company that had sufficient energy the entire time," says Captain Stephen Cooney, the mission's commanding officer [David Roberts, "The Marines Go Renewable," Outside, 2011.11.09].

"Our dependence on power generation puts us directly at risk," says Marine Colonel Bob Charette. "We're going to change the way we think."

The Marines don't give a rip about politics or ideology; they care about winning the fight and coming home alive. They recognize that solar power and other green technology that gets them away from dependence from fossil fuels can help them complete the mission. We need to think more like Marines.