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NEWS | Oct. 24, 2008

Vice Commander's Comments

By Col. Donald Shaffer 437th Airlift Wing vice commander

As you may know, October is Energy Awareness Month and it serves as an important reminder for each of us to be good stewards of the environment. An interesting fact that most Team Charleston members are probably unaware of is that Air Mobility Command as a whole uses 42 percent of the energy used by the Air Force.

The Air Force used 2.5 billion gallons of aviation fuel in fiscal year 2007. That is a significant number and an even larger cost considering the rising price of fuel in 2008. Though October is set aside for energy awareness, AMC energy experts say that every month should be energy awareness month -- and it's not difficult to see why.

Looking at these numbers, it's often difficult to see where the savings from turning off the lights could make a substantial difference. However, the Air Force spent approximately 1.5 billion dollars on energy to operate bases and ground vehicles.

If you think turning off the lights doesn't make much of a difference, consider the electrical engineer from Pope AFB, N.C., who submitted a proposal through the Air Force's IDEA program to remotely turn off the runway lights when not in use. Pope AFB annually spent more than $330,000 in energy and maintenance costs to light the runway before implementing the proposal and now spends $157,000. While this example may be atypical, it does illustrate the fact that turning off the lights can make a significant impact. Budgets are tight and savings in fuel and other forms of energy consumption becomes all that much more important.

Executive Order 13423 directs a three percent energy reduction per year until 2015. Fixed fuel costs and the operations tempo AMC maintains means that's a tall order. It is incumbent on each of us to help meet that reduction rate. The mission is a constant and a non-negotiable issue, so the reductions must come predominantly from other areas. Turning the lights off when not in use is important. Limiting or eliminating the use of space heaters moves us toward that goal. Eliminating the use of a government-owned vehicle for short or frequent errands helps meet the target reduction. Every member of Team Charleston, to include base housing residents, should be concerned with not only not wasting energy but also conserving energy wherever possible.

Drastic measures such as rolling outages or reduced hours for services are non-monetary costs, but "costs" for everyone nonetheless. Every small effort is worth doing; please do all you can to reduce our energy usage.

Leaders like those from the Airman Leadership School Class 08-G will be the ones to make the next breakthroughs as we move toward a more energy efficient force. Completing ALS is the one of the first steps in a career-long development cycle that serves to mold our Airmen. Increases in authority and responsibility come at a rapid pace and ALS helps prepare those on the cusp of making the transition. Motivating these young men and women to become the future chief master sergeant of the Air Force begins in ALS. Congratulations!