The fleet replenishment

The fleet replenishment oiler USNS Henry J. Kaiser (T-AO-187), left, refuels the amphibious assault ship USS Boxer (LHD 4) during replenishment at sea in the Arabian Sea April 17, 2011. Boxer was under way supporting maritime security operations and theater security cooperation efforts in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility. 










(DoD photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Trevor Welsh, U.S. Navy/Released)

Face of Defense: Chef Finds Success in Army

By Army Sgt. Michael J. MacLeod 1st Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division FORT BRAGG, N.C: When White House ushers told the auditioning chef it was a good sign if the president wanted to meet him after the third course, it was a defining moment in the culinary career of J.D. Ward, at that time an Army staff sergeant. Army Chief Warrant Officer 2 J.D. Ward mentors an Army cook preparing lunch at Fort Bragg, N.C., April 20, 2011. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Michael J. MacLeod  For four years, Ward had been working nights as a contracted prep cook at the White House residential kitchen following a day shift in a Pentagon's Army kitchen, and now, he was getting a shot at the top. Thinking good thoughts, he changed into a new coat, a starched shirt and tie, a new apron on top of that, and a nice white toque hat. Then he waited. For the Oklahoma farm boy turned big-city chef who had worked 80-hour weeks for five years in the restaurant business and who could expect pretty much the same for many years to come, enlisting in the Army had provided unforeseen and unmatched opportunities. "Growing up on a small farm in Oklahoma, I experienced some pretty wonderful country home cooking," Ward said. "I was able to see something go from the earth to the table, and that impressed me." Ward enjoyed college at Southwest Texas State, but he yearned for a different lifestyle. He decided to spend a year working in the best restaurant he could find and simply enjoy the food. What he hadn't counted on was how well-suited he was for the business. "I was infatuated with that lifestyle -- the long hours and the tight-knit community within the kitchen, the environment with the wine, before-and-after dinner drinks, exposure to wonderful food and the ability to have that wonderful food available at any time," he said. Learning the basics, Ward worked his way up, and after a couple of years, he was a banquet sous chef, an under-chef somewhat like an Army sergeant. He found himself teaching culinary arts students what they had been paying $27,000 a year to learn, and he was getting promoted and receiving accolades. David Bull, a former boss and who now oversees culinary operations for the Austin, Texas, area's La Corsha Hospitality Group, described Ward as "dedicated, loyal, passionate and possessing a no-fear attitude and confidence to be successful in the business." However, the lifestyle in the long term was very hard for Ward. In five years, he worked 10 different jobs in Austin and San Antonio, a typical pattern for cooks eager to learn the ways of different chefs and kitchens. Much of the time, he had a day job and an evening job, consistently putting in 80 hours a week. "I learned traditional French cooking techniques from traditional chefs, and it was wonderful," he said. "I took a lot of pride in it." Age and experience in the world brought new interests. He met Paula, his future wife, and a now-familiar book, "Band of Brothers," rekindled a family legacy of service. "From the time that I was knee-high, I knew my father had been a paratrooper, and I always wanted to be a soldier," he said. "I was 24 years old, and I said, 'I have to join now, or I will be too old when it comes time to do it.'" Ward believed he was taking a four-year break from the high-stress restaurant environment to satisfy an itch to serve and to marry Paula. Additionally, the Army would give him a secure job and benefits to begin his new family. As a military brat, Paula said, she had vowed never to marry into the military, but she did. "He is so funny and outgoing," she said of her husband. "We were married two days before his basic training." Ward enlisted for four years. While assigned to the Old Guard, he discovered the Army Culinary Arts Competition at Fort Lee, Va., and in a way, he found his home. "I went to the culinary arts competition, and I realized that I didn't know one-tenth of what I thought I knew about cooking," Ward said. This comes as no surprise to one of Ward's Army mentors, Sgt. 1st Class David Russ, also an accomplished chef before joining the Army. One of first instructors at the Army Culinary Arts School, Russ attributes 75 percent of what he knows about food to the Army. In the Army, Ward said, he met other people who knew more about traditional cooking than he knew existed and they'd been competing on the world stage for years. "What I thought was going to be a break ended up being something that I fell in love with," he said. The Army provided more opportunity for quicker advancement than life as a civilian chef would have, Ward said. There were once-in-a-lifetime opportunities as well, such as being the first member of the Quartermaster Corps to guard the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery. At a culinary arts competition, the young Army chef was recruited to work at the secretary of the Army's mess in the Pentagon, where he cooked for the most-senior members of the Army staff. One thing led to another, and after he competed in the 2006 Culinary World Cup competition in Luxembourg -- during which the Army team earned 12 gold medals -- Ward found himself auditioning to be then-President George W. Bush's chef. "Chef, he is ready for you," the usher said. In his fresh clothes, Ward went out to talk to the president and his wife, Laura, and their friends. They chatted about where he had cooked in Austin and the fact that he was still in the Army, and two weeks later, he was offered the job. But to Ward's surprise, he would take another path. At the pinnacle of his culinary career, the ambitious Texan realized he didn't want it any more, and he needed a new challenge. He prepared a warrant officer packet and was accepted. Three years later, Ward said, he realizes it was the best decision of his career. Though he virtually has given up day-to-day culinary artistry, he explained, he is far more challenged as an officer and still is able to maintain his foothold in food service, something that he will always love. "I am learning so much more as an officer than I ever would have as a chef," he said. "I have a whole new level of experience. Now I see myself as a manager, and to some degree, a food-service executive, rather than a chef. Who knows where I could have gone in 10 to 15 years as a chef, but I've grown so much more as a man." His wife agrees. "He's matured," she said. "He's become a more well-rounded person with organizational and leadership skills. He is a better communicator. He's always had a drive to succeed and do well, but the Army has given him advantages as a person and as a soldier. That has even translated into married life." Now wearing the rank of chief warrant officer 2 as the command food service technician for the 82nd Airborne Division's 1st Brigade Combat Team here, Ward still gets a gleam in his eyes when he sees fresh produce, said Paula, who is finishing a degree in psychology. "He gets on a roll when it comes to ingredients," she said with a laugh. "He'll start talking about fresh herbs, and 30 minutes later, he's still talking about fresh herbs, like Forrest Gump's friend, Bubba, talking about the many ways to prepare shrimp." She added that she can't imagine a different life. "I like the military lifestyle," she said. "We've had a lot of growth. The Army has been very beneficial to us. We have a special-needs child, and the Army Family Covenant and the Army in general have been very responsive to our needs. I know that's not always the case –- sometimes Army couples have to look for it." Ward said he still works long hours, but now it's by his own design and it's just who he is. His job is much like running a business, with responsibility for the entire food-service operation for a brigade of 3,500 paratroopers, making sure all field equipment is ready in case the brigade is called up, managing accounts within a strict budget, attending to outgoing and incoming personnel, and more. "Our challenge is to get our cooks to love what they do," he said. "Most come in eager to learn, but it can very quickly become a disheartening job. However, if, from the top down, people are engaged, encouraged and excited about serving lunch to a brigade of paratroopers, and they take pride in the challenge, then it's a lot more fun, and these guys love it." Any young cook who might be discouraged in the Army's industrial food service system just needs to be exposed to the broader pieces of Army food service, Ward said. "They have to look for it, and they have to ask," he added. "It's important to have that drive." While some enlistees may think the Army is going to give them a professional education and experience to open a restaurant, that's not entirely true, he noted. However, he added, it can give a soldier the maturity, the wisdom, the leadership skills and the management skills they won't necessarily get coming up through the ranks of a hotel kitchen. "If you can cook two quality meals a day for 700 troopers off a mobile containerized kitchen with a team of four cooks, then I know you can be a success in any other piece of food service if you apply yourself," he said. "It's not necessarily true that if you cook successfully in a hotel kitchen, you can also cook on an Army field kitchen." Ward and Russ –- now a retired sergeant first class -- agree that involvement in the Army Culinary Arts School and its competition team can be a key component of an Army chef's success. Russ, who was named National Military Chef four years in a row -- he shared a spot on "The Tonight Show" with actress Sandra Bullock in 2003 -- credits the schoolhouse for raising the standard of Army food service through training. He also stresses the importance of having leaders like Ward, who really care that soldiers receive a quality dining experience, whether at the dining facility, eating "hot A's" in the pine forests of Fort Bragg's training sites or deployed in a war zone -- leaders who, like Ward, will say and mean things like, "If a soldier's eating in the 1st Brigade, I want to be a part of it." An entry-level Army cook may not understand why he is doing some of the job's tasks until becoming a senior leader, Ward said. "He might spend his day preparing a single product for a field feeding exercise, but when you see from above the entire product coming together, then you understand the value that each soldier brings to the team," he explained. (Issued on April 22, 2011)

Face of Defense: Marine Coaches Youth Wrestlers

By Marine Corps Cpl. Juan D. Alfonso
Marine Forces Pacific
CAMP H.M. SMITH, Hawaii :- When people look at Master Sgt. Timothy D. Greenleaf, they see a 6-foot, bulky, tattooed Marine. What isn't so obvious is he's enjoyed working with children for more than 18 years.

Greenleaf, war reserve chief for U.S. Marine Corps Forces Pacific logistics, devotes a large amount of his off-duty time to being the head wrestling coach for Marine Corps Base Hawaii's Marine Corps Community Services youth wrestling team.

Marine Corps Master Sgt. Timothy D. Greenleaf gathers the Marine Corps Base Hawaii's youth wrestling team in a huddle after a two-hour practice in preparation for their upcoming meet, April 11, 2011. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Juan D. Alfonso

Although his coaching ambitions are centered on nurturing the athletic talents of his three children, Greenleaf said, coaching also gives him the opportunity to be there for the children of his fellow service members.

"A lot of these kids have parents who are either deployed or getting ready to deploy," he said. "If I can, I'd like to fill the gap and provide them with a strong male mentor figure. My children have gone through the same thing, so this is my way of catching up."

Greenleaf began his coaching career in 1993 while stationed at Blount Island Command in Jacksonville, Fla., when he became head coach for his oldest son's Little League baseball team.

"The main reason I started coaching was because my [oldest] son was deaf, and I had to be at every practice and game to translate for him," Greenleaf said. "So I figured if I'm going to be there anyway, why not coach?"

In addition to coaching children, Greenleaf, who says he's always had a passion for physical fitness, began to coach his unit's tackle football team.

"I just knew how to organize a practice," Greenleaf said. "I took a lot of the methodologies we use in the Marine Corps and applied it to my coaching style –- warm-ups, drilling, practicing situation-based strategies -- and I really enjoyed it."

As a father, Greenleaf said, he could relate to the concerns of his young athletes' parents, a trait that has allowed him to teach the necessary discipline for sports and also maintain a good relationship with the parents.

"A parent wants a child to be cared for in a certain way, and I always keep that in mind when I'm coaching," he said. "But when you're teaching someone discipline, it sometimes takes a little tough love, which is fine as long as I let the parents know what's going on."

In 1998, he transferred to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where he continued his coaching career as the base's flag football coach and dabbled as a youth sports referee.

"For me, it's been another form of mentoring," Greenleaf said. "The more that I defined myself as a coach, the better I got at refining my coaching style. It's about getting down to the basics -- working on quickness, agility, strength and conditioning."

In 1999, Greenleaf returned to Jacksonville, where he focused on his eldest son's participation in football and wrestling.

"My son attended a deaf school, and his coaches were also deaf," Greenleaf said. "They had interpreters at their local games, but when the team traveled, my wife and I came along to help out as interpreters. We supported all kinds of programs that way."

In 2003, Greenleaf was stationed at Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Kaneohe Bay, where his daughter began to show interest in athletics.

"She walked up to me one day when I was getting ready to go on a run and asked, 'Daddy, can I come with you?'" Greenleaf said. "I told her, 'Be careful what you ask for, daughter.' From that point on, she was my running partner for three years."

Although he wasn't coaching any teams then, Greenleaf began training his daughter, who was 10 years old at the time, to run five- and 10-kilometer races until she asked to join a Little League baseball team.

"My dad's great," his daughter said. "He used to go outside with me for two or three hours just helping me work on my pitching or my catching. That's just how he is. If you want to be a baseball player or a football player or a wrestler, he just wants you to succeed, and if you're willing to put in the work, he'll help you."
With his oldest and youngest children heavily engaged in sports, Greenleaf began working with his second son, who also is deaf, by taking him to the gym. He eventually convinced him to join a youth wrestling program.
In 2007, the Greenleafs were stationed in Washington, D.C., at the Marine Barracks at 8th and I streets, where he said the coaching got out of control.
"I was coaching youth baseball, and then my daughter switched to softball," Greenleaf said. "I was also coaching the Marine Corps Institute flag football, basketball and softball teams."
Earlier this year, Greenleaf returned to Hawaii, where he assumed his current duties and began coaching youth wrestling.
Although most of the Greenleaf children are adults now, sports remain a family event. Greenleaf's daughter and second son practice judo and are involved in the youth wrestling program. His second son took fourth place in the 215-pound weight class at the 2011 Hawaii High School Athletic Association's wrestling championships while wrestling for Pearl City High School.
"My oldest son is married with a baby now, and he's a coach on the [youth wrestling] team," Greenleaf said. "[My second son also is] a coach, my daughter is on my team, and my wife sits on the bleachers and is in general support. When you involve your family and invest your time in your kids, it makes it all worthwhile."
With a team of more than 30 wrestlers from ages 5 through 17, Greenleaf has his hands full, but continues to do more than he has to by offering additional one-on-one coaching time with his wrestlers and continuing to train his older wrestlers during the off-season.
"I want them to learn mental and physical discipline," he said. "Wrestling helps to build their self-esteem. Not only are they doing grueling two-hour workouts, but they have to get out there and perform in front of people. I feel that the more you put them in those kinds of positions, other things in life won't feel so daunting."
(Issued on : April 20, 2011)

First Lady, Dr. Biden Kick Off Sesame, USO Tour

By Elaine Sanchez 
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, April 18, 2011 - Last week I traveled to Ohio to attend a "Joining Forces" event for local military families and community members in the Columbus area.

First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden pose with some of the cast of Sesame Street during a "Joining Forces" community event in Columbus, Ohio, April 14, 2011. The event also kicked off the Sesame Street and USO Experience for Military Families, a free traveling tour exclusively for military families. DOD photo by Elaine Sanchez

First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, hosted the concert-style event to thank military families as well as to encourage community members to support and honor them as part of the White House's Joining Forces family support initiative. The event also helped to kick off a new installment of the Sesame Street and USO Experience for Military Families, a free traveling tour exclusively for military families.
Elmo, Grover, Cookie Monster and friends offered a preview of the traveling show, which features a new theme and a new character named Katie, a military child about to move. During the musical show, Katie opens up to her Muppet friends about her fears, and excitement, over her upcoming move. With the help of a few songs, Elmo and other Sesame pals reassure her that she'll make new friends while still remaining close with old ones.
The show was a blast, although my ears are still ringing from the screaming fans, particularly after singer Nick Jonas of the Jonas Brothers made a special appearance.
The traveling show will kick off its around-the-world tour with a stop in Alaska later this month, and will continue with stops in Hawaii, Guam, South Korea, Turkey, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, the United Kingdom and Spain.
For up-to-date tour information, people can visit the USO website.
For more on Joining Forces, visit the White House website or Defense.gov's special report.
For more on Family Matters, visit the blog or check out Family Matters on Facebook or Twitter.

First Lady, Dr. Biden Urge Military Family Support

By Elaine Sanchez  American Forces Press Service COLUMBUS, Ohio, April 15, 2011 - Joined by a few famous friends, First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, stopped by a packed auditorium here yesterday to thank local troops and their families for their service and to encourage community members to "join forces" in support of military families. First Lady Michelle Obama speaks about the White House's "Joining Forces" military family support campaign to a crowd of National Guard and local families as Dr. Jill Biden stands by during a "Joining Forces" community event in Columbus, Ohio, April 14, 2011. The event was the final stop on Obama and Biden's two-day tour around the nation to spotlight communities doing outstanding work to support military families. DOD photo by Elaine Sanchez  The concert-style event, featuring performances by singer Nick Jonas and a host of Sesame Street Muppets, was the final stop of Obama and Biden's whirlwind, two-day tour around the nation to kick off the "Joining Forces" military family support campaign. The national initiative calls on all sectors of society -- from citizens and communities, to businesses and nonprofit groups -- to honor and support military families. Moments earlier, Obama and Biden had walked onto the stage to thunderous applause and a warm welcome from Sesame Street fan favorites, including Elmo, Grover and the Cookie Monster. Despite the star-studded presence, Obama said military families were the true guests of honor that evening and thanked them for their service. "You're the reason that we're here," she told service members and their families scattered among the still-cheering crowd. The first lady also thanked local community members, who came out in droves for the event. "There are a lot of community members who came out tonight, because even though you may not be part of a military family yourself, you still feel a whole lot of gratitude and respect for those who are," she said. That's the intent behind Joining Forces, she said: to recognize, honor and support military families. "We want to give back to these families that have given all of us so much," she said. The campaign will join forces with federal government, businesses and nonprofit organizations, Obama said, as well as with people from the entertainment and sports industries, to ensure military families receive the support they need. Efforts at all levels are vital, "but most importantly, this effort is about all of us joining forces as Americans, as neighbors and colleagues and classmates," she said. "And the motto for this effort is very simple," she added. "Jill and I believe that everyone -- everyone -- can do something, even boys and girls. Everyone can do something to support a military family. And everyone can ask themselves, 'What can I do? How can I give back?'" These gestures can be simple ones, Obama noted. Children can offer to do a project to support military families at their school, and parents can offer to help out a military neighbor. "If you're a parent, maybe you can tell that military mom down the street that you'll take her shift in the carpool, or maybe mow the lawn, or start a group at your place of worship to help lighten the load for these families during deployments," she suggested. Obama urged people to visit the Joining Forces website at http://joiningforces.gov for ideas on how to get involved. "In the end, I know that if we all work together, if we all join forces, then we can serve our military families as well as they've served us," she said. Biden echoed the first lady's words and expressed her gratitude for the troops and families in attendance. "We hope to inspire more communities out around the country to reach out to our military families just like we are doing tonight," she said. "We can all join forces." After they spoke, Obama and Biden stepped off the stage and into the crowd to personally greet families. Air Force Gen. Craig R. McKinley, chief of the National Guard Bureau, also attended the event and praised the efforts of communities around the nation, including those in Ohio. "During these times of deployments, the support your communities provide to our soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines and Coast Guard members and their families is nothing shy of spectacular," he said. This support, he added, enables troops to focus on the mission with the comfort of knowing their families are cared for back home. The event also served as the kickoff for the fifth installment of the Sesame Street/USO Experience for Military Families, a free, traveling USO tour for military families. During the evening, Sesame unveiled Katie, a new character designed for the tour, who is a military child moving to a new home. Elmo and friends help Katie open up about her fears and excitement about the upcoming change. The new show will head to Alaska later this month and then will continue on an around-the-world tour. Earlier in the day, Obama and Biden stopped by the National Math and Science Competition at the Fountain-Fort Carson High School in Colorado Springs, Colo., and later attended an employment event here to highlight how several major businesses have made commitments to ensure job transferability for military spouses. They made stops April 13 in Denver, San Antonio and in North Carolina, where they spoke to troops and their families and attended a celebration for pregnant military spouses on Camp Lejeune. Army Master Sgt. Joel Reynolds said he was thrilled that Obama and Biden made time for a stop in Ohio. "That's huge for the families," he said. "It's not very often that we get to actually see somebody of great importance show interest in us as individuals." While Obama and Biden were a big hit with his dad, Reynolds' 6-year-old son, Caleb, said he had his own personal favorite: Elmo.

Related Sites:  Special Report: Joining Forces

First Lady Michelle Obama greets a crowd of National Guard and local families during a "Joining Forces" community event in Columbus, Ohio, April 14, 2011. The event was the final stop on Obama and Biden's two-day "Joining Forces" tour around the nation to spotlight communities doing outstanding work to support military families. DOD photo by Elaine Sanchez Download screen-resolution Download high-resolution  Dr. Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, speaks about the White House's "Joining Forces" military family support campaign to a crowd of National Guard and local families as First Lady Michelle Obama stands by during a "Joining Forces" community event in Columbus, Ohio, April 14, 2011. The event was the final stop on Obama and Biden's two-day tour around the nation to spotlight communities doing outstanding work to support military families. DOD photo by Elaine Sanchez Download screen-resolution Download high-resolution  First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden greet Sesame Street Muppets Telly and Grover while Elmo waits for his hug during a "Joining Forces" community event honoring National Guard families in Columbus, Ohio, April 14, 2011. DOD photo by Elaine Sanchez Download screen-resolution Download high-resolution  First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden pose with some of the cast of Sesame Street during a "Joining Forces" community event in Columbus, Ohio, April 14, 2011. DOD photo by Elaine Sanchez Download screen-resolution Download high-resolution

Human Rights Report on Monday

On 7-9 October 1991 at first International Workshop on National Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights held in Paris when the United Nations Human Rights Commission as Resolution 1992/54 of 1992 and Resolution 48/134 of 1993 adopted the Paris Principle. It was a historic moment and a new definition of civilization was reintroduced in the human conscience. Following the path of Paris Principle, The Protection of Human Rights Act was drafted at 1993 by which Nation Human Rights Commission, West Bengal Human Rights Commission and as well as various other Human Rights Institutions were established in India where the duties and functions of the commissions are enumerated. 

To monitor the performances of the HRIs of the countries, a new mechanism was developed at the UN. (ICC). In South Asia, ANNI(Asian NGOs Network on National Human Rights Institutions) was formed. To follow this process, AiNNI (All India Network of NGOs & Individuals working with National and State Human Rights Institutions) was also formed, wherein MASUM is an active member. 

This is the demand of the hour that the West Bengal Human Rights Commission, West Bengal Women Commission, West Bengal Minority Commission and other Human Rights Institutions of this state work more actively and significantly in the field of protection of human rights. But it seems that they often failed to show such responsibilities. 

We believe the Fourth Estate, the Press and Media, has strong role in forming public opinion in a positive way and they are morally bound to advocate and highlight the social causes. 

A special report on Human Rights situation to be release at a press meet on 18^th April, 2011 Monday at Kolkata Press Club at 3 - 4 pm. This Press meet has been announced for the release of the background paper and more information, data and evidence of non-fulfilling the duties of the West Bengal Human Rights Commission and other Human Rights Institutions in India and in particular, in West Bengal. 

Honourable Justice Malay Sengupta, ex Judge of Kolkata High Court, Ex Acting Chief Justice of Sikkim High Court and present Chairman of OBC Commission of West Bengal will preside over the session. Veteran writer and social activist, Ms. Mahasweta Devi will be present there as Chief Guest. Many other academics, social activists, organisations will share their experiences. 

Kirity Roy
Secretary
Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM)
&
National Convenor (PACTI)
Programme Against Custodial Torture & Impunity
40A, Barabagan Lane (4th Floor)
Balaji Place, Shibtala,Srirampur
Hooghly PIN- 712203

Green Initiatives Support Energy-Savings Concept

By Donna Miles  American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, April 13, 2011 - Last week's groundbreaking for a new solar micro grid at Fort Hunter Liggett, Calif., is the latest example of a military "going green" -– saving environmental resources and taxpayer dollars, too. A 1-megawatt solar array being built at Fort Hunter Liggett, Calif., like these solar arrays displayed at the Sacramento State Fairgrounds in Sacramento, Calif., will conserve energy and save taxpayer dollars. U.S. Army photo  The 1-megawatt facility, to become operational later this year, will provide one-third of the power for the nation's largest Army Reserve training post, and ultimately it will save $1 million in energy costs annually, Addison D. "Tad" Davis IV, command executive officer for U.S. Army Reserve Command at Fort Bragg, N.C., told American Forces Press Service. Taking advantage of the post's 292 annual days of sunshine, the facility's two grids, each stretching about 40 feet by 1,200 feet over an existing parking lot, will shade vehicles below while generating renewable solar energy. "This is pretty exciting stuff, when you think about the fact that we are able to do this and generate that much energy for this installation," Davis said. And if the Army decides to expand the initiative into its second and third phases, it could enable Fort Hunter Liggett to become one of the Defense Department's first "net-zero energy installations," meaning it produces as much energy as it uses, he said. Davis said he's seen the military make huge strides in energy conservation. A decade ago, as Fort Bragg's garrison commander, he introduced the Army's first installation-wide sustainability program. Costs largely drove that decision. "As the installation commander for the largest populated military installation in the world here at Fort Bragg, I had the checkbook, and I had to pay the energy bill and the water bill every month," he said. It didn't take long to recognize that conserving resources saved money that could be used for infrastructure upgrades and new facilities. "So it was the economics of this that really got me excited about sustainability," Davis said. Fort Bragg's early sustainability programs addressed the broad scope of issues, from how energy, water, wastewater and solid and hazardous waste was managed to how new buildings were constructed. The result, Davis said, was more effective and efficient use of resources, reduced consumption and, as a result, cost savings that could be applied to other projects. The concept caught on quickly, expanding to more than 30 Army installations, including posts in Germany, Alaska and Hawaii. Now, the Army hopes to take it a step further with net-zero energy, waste and water initiatives. Several pilot programs are expected to be announced during next week's Earth Day observance. These sustainability initiatives support what Davis called the Army's "triple bottom line" that incorporates mission, environment and community. "Obviously, the mission is most important to us -- to be able to provide our soldiers, civilians and family members for worldwide deployments and be able to go forth and conduct missions and return home safe and sound," he said. That mission focus is accompanied with the responsibility to be a good steward of the environment, Davis said. "This is looking at our resources and taking deliberate steps to address our consumption and reducing our impact on the environment," he explained. It also involves working as partners with communities -- those directly on the installation as well as beyond its gates -- to pursue environmental goals. Davis pointed to the example of the Sustainable Sandhills Initiative, which was established in 2003 and brings together Fort Bragg, neighboring Pope Air Force Base and eight surrounding counties to support regional conservation programs and initiatives. Those experiences have proven valuable in Davis' current post as CEO for the Army Reserve, with responsibility for its 1,200 facilities worldwide. "We in the Army Reserve are inextricably linked to the communities, because our reserve centers are there in the communities," he said. "So the thought is, if we can get this [sustainability effort] distributed to as many of our facilities as possible, it will help us economically, it will help us to be good stewards of the taxpayer dollar, but it will also connect us to the communities -– many of which are trying to do much of the same thing we are doing." Evidence of a sustainability mind set is cropping up throughout the Army Reserve. It's seen in a photovoltaic solar panel system on the roof of the 99th Regional Support Command headquarters at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J.; a geothermal initiative at Fort Devens, Mass.; and in renovations of older buildings to make them more efficient. One of the most exciting new developments, Davis said, is a new reserve center being built at Las Cruces, N.M., to the most stringent Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design standards. "This is a really big deal," he said of the plans that will achieve either gold- or platinum-level LEED certification and exceed the silver certification the Army requires for all new buildings. "It is a huge accomplishment, by any stretch, to have a building able to meet [those] criteria," Davis said. While the Army Reserve builds state-of-the-art facilities and renovates older ones to make them more energy- and resource-efficient, its members are identifying new ways of doing business that promote conservation. New temperature-control systems enable users to heat and cool entire facilities during high-occupancy weekend periods, but only parts of those buildings during weekdays, when they're minimally manned. New energy, water and natural gas meters are being installed to encourage conservation. Hybrid vehicles are being put to use at the Army Reserve's larger training centers, and a new emphasis has been put on buying recyclable and reusable products. Meanwhile, the Army Reserve has joined "big Army" in expanding this focus to the operational force. "We're trying to look at how we can apply some of these lessons learned to our forward-deployed forces, enable the mission to continue, but reduce the reliance on fossil fuel" to run generators and provide other critical support, Davis said, citing solar or wind power as possible options. "When you boil it down to what we are trying to accomplish, we are trying to build green, buy green, go green," he said. "From the big-picture perspective, this is obviously something that is very important to the military."

Biographies: Addison D. Davis IV  Related Sites: U.S. Army Reserve Command

Low-speed electric vehicles are in full use at the Army Reserve's largest training facilities, with nearly 4,000 already in the Army inventory as the military strives to save environmental resources and taxpayer dollars by "going green." U.S. Army photo  Download screen-resolution Download high-resolution Evidence of a sustainability approach, such as this photovoltaic solar panel system on the roof of the 99th Regional Support Command headquarters at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J, are cropping up throughout the Army Reserve and the military as a whole. U.S. Army photo  Download screen-resolution Download high-resolution