Air Force officials are examining the service’s headquarters-level organization to determine if changes are necessary to ensure that USAF achieves its energy goals, Erin Conaton, undersecretary of the Air Force, said Thursday, said at the service’s energy symposium in Washington, D.C. The Air Force last year issued a strategic energy plan with ambitious goals for reducing its energy consumption and incorporating renewable and alternative sources of energy. For example, it seeks to trim its aviation fuel consumption by 10 percent by 2015. “If we want to make energy a consideration in all we do, we have to look at all of the ways in which we engage on decision-making for the Air Force,” Conaton told reporters after referencing the organizational review in her symposium address. She said she wants to ensure that energy issues have “a seat at the table” in senior echelons.
Looking to make a quick start on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s sweeping “FORTRESS America” program to make every military base in the U.S. more self sufficient, the Pentagon is dialing up its efforts in an area the Air Force has been working for several years: energy resilience and independence.