The Office of the Assistant Sec. of Defense for Operational Energy was created in 2010 to strengthen the energy security of U.S. military operations. The mission of the office is to help the military services and combatant commands improve military capabilities, cut costs, and lower operational and strategic risk through better energy accounting, planning, management, and innovation. Energy security is important to national security. The cost of America's national energy consumption, particularly of oil, is too high, both in the billions of dollars the Nation sends overseas and in the geostratic consequences. This Operational Energy Strategy will guide the DOD in how to better use energy resources to support its strategic goals and the Nation's energy goals, while allowing DOD to lower the risks to warfighters, shift resources to other warfighting priorities, and same money for American taxpayers. Figures. This is a print on demand report.

Forces in Iraq and Afghanistan have faced significant risks of mission failure and loss of life due to rapidly changing enemy threats. In response, DoD established urgent operational needs processes to rapidly develop, modify, and field new capabilities, such as intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance tech'y., and counterimprovised explosive devices systems. This review determined: (1) what DoD entities exist for responding to urgent operational needs, and the extent to which there is fragmentation, overlap, or duplication; (2) the extent to which DoD has a comprehensive approach for managing and overseeing its urgent needs activities; and (3) has DoD evaluated the potential for consolidations. Illus. This is a print on demand report.