Applying simple, innovative ideas has helped the Air Force reduce its fossil fuel use by 9 percent since 2003 and its overall energy use on bases by almost 15 percent over that span, says Air Force Undersecretary Erin Conaton. “We’re looking at things in very simple terms, but I think the simple terms are what get us there,” she said during a recent Clean Energy Forum sponsored by the White House Office of Energy and Climate. Conaton noted that Air Mobility Command officials have been working to reduce the commands’ energy consumption by “reducing aircraft weight, decreasing auxiliary power unit use, and coordinating better with our foreign partners” to find more energy-efficient travel routes. Additional energy initiatives service-wide include wind turbines at F.E. Warren AFB, Wyo., and North America’s largest solar photovoltaic system at Nellis AFB, Nev., she said in her July 27 address. (SAF/PA release by MSgt. Russell Petcoff) (See also Energized Leadership.)
Former AFCENT Commander Reflects on Lessons of Epic Fury
Sept. 13, 2026
Operation Epic Fury marked the U.S. military's largest air campaign in a generation, with strikes on 13,000 targets in Iran before the first in a series of shaky ceasefires began in April. Now, even as hostilities continue to flare up, Lt. Gen. Derek C. France sees several clear lessons that…
