1. RADM Kevin Slates, OPNAV N45
Fleet Energy Training
Good morning. My name is Rear Admiral Kevin Slates and I am the Director of the Chief of Naval Operations’ Energy and Environmental Division. We are here today to widen the discussion of a very important topic – warfighting.
While each of us plays a different role in the Navy, our ability to fight and win wars is tied to a single point of failure, something that we all use but usually take for granted…and that is energy.
We deliver 1.25 billion gallons of fuel worldwide to our operators annually. This is an Achilles’ heel in operations, especially in the Pacific where we fight the tyranny of distance every day.
RADM Kevin Slates, OPNAV N45
6 November 2014
Jacksonville, FL

2. Warfighting is Primary
Focus Areas
More Presence, Less Fuel
Reduce Supply Chain Vulnerabilities
We want to make sure that we have a lot of mobility and better operational choices; more choices for our operational commanders on how and when they will consume the limited and challenging resource of fuel at sea.
We have all grown accustomed to having fuel available whenever we need it. And I am just as guilty as everyone here in taking for granted that a fuel truck will be there when I need it, an oiler will show up on time, or the tanker will be there when low on gas.
But imagine a future conflict in which an adversary targets and disrupts our logistics chain, rendering our platforms useless and forced into retreat since an oiler was sunk, a refinery was attacked, or the tanker was lost. This is what we like to call “fighting hurt”.
None of us want to think about it, but we all understand that when we are refueling, whether at sea, in the air, or on the ground…we are easy targets and not in the fight.
To achieve energy security for our Navy, we need to reinvent how we create energy, how we value energy, and how we consume energy.
Some of you may be thinking that we are here to be green and save money. While both of those may be beneficial results of our actions, this is really about maintaining and even increasing our warfighting capability now and into the future.
We want to produce more presence with less fuel; reduce our logistic supply chain vulnerabilities; leverage fungible energy to shift power from propulsion to weapons system; and increase the resilience of our shore installations.
Installation / Base Resilience
Leverage Fungible Energy
Warfighting is Primary

3. Energy Efficiency = More Combat Capability
Operational Benefits
Air Operations
Surface Operations
Time at max power
Range and endurance
Reduces number of F/A-18E/F tankers
More F/A-18E/F available for other missions
Operational flexibility
More time on station and energy for advanced systems
Increased time/distance between refuelings
Our real objective is to reduce our vulnerability and mitigate those risks through energy efficiency initiatives.
Energy efficiency, and I really can’t stress this enough, is the most effective enabler for our assets. Efficiency gives each one of you more flexibility and options in how you operate your ships, aircraft, and expeditionary units.
If we’re efficient, we can increase our range and our endurance; spend more time performing combat operations than resupplying operations.
For example, we can employ more aircraft as fighters than as tankers. An F/A-18 with 10% fuel efficiency allows for three other fighters to be put into the fight instead of in a refueling role.
For every Hybrid Electric Drive we install, we save over 5,000 barrel of fuel per year and can get ten extra steaming days per year. This gives our ships more staying time – more presence – between refueling to perform their mission.
Our expeditionary forces will be more self-sufficient and less reliant on vulnerable sources of resupply. A more lean expeditionary force is a more lethal expeditionary force.
Expeditionary Operations
Reduced convoys to Forward Operating Bases (FOBs)
Extended range and endurance
Energy Efficiency = More Combat Capability

4. Energy Initiatives Afloat & Ashore
Maritime
Efficient Ship Systems
Improved Hydrodynamics
DDG-51 Hybrid Electric Drive
Energy Dashboard
Aviation
Over the last few years, we have funded a number of energy technologies that start to do just that. We’ve already started installing stern flaps and energy dashboards on ships; we’ve researched and funded a number of aviation energy initiatives, and we’ve purchased hybrid energy systems for our expeditionary warriors
Most of these initiatives are passive, active, and actionable technologies and emphasize culture change to increase efficiency on ships or aircraft.
Allows an operational commander choice and flexibility in when and how they consume the fuel in their tanks – and there is a fuel savings benefit.
Passive: always at work to reduce consumption and include stern flaps, propeller coatings, and CTL
Active: provide commanders the option to engage technology when necessary or desired for improved efficiency. Technology such as HED/TMCS,
Actionable: These technologies provide information or options to commanders but in and of themselves these initiatives will not save fuel unless the information is analyzed and acted upon.
Technology can only do so much if our sailors and officers do not understand that energy is a scarce and expensive resource to be valued.
On the shore side, we are installing meters, renewable energy systems, and smart Grid:
Focuses on the objectives of reducing energy consumption without impacting mission
Complete integration of current ICS with wired & wireless AMI systems as the NDW Smart Grid data nodes.
Integrated systems enable optimized utility consumption and divert energy to critical assets during emergencies
Operations & Policy
Research & Development
Science & Technology
Flight Simulators
Biofuels
F/A-18 Super Hornet
Riverine Combat Boat-X
MH-60S Seahawk
T-AO/CG/DDG/CVN
Shore
Solar/Wind/Geothermal
Advanced Metering
Navy’s Smart Grid
Advanced Power
Investments in efficiency and alternatives reflect a portfolio approach 4

5. A Culture of Energy Stewardship
Challenges
Policy & Guidance
Technology helps but is not the only solution
Changing how we value and consume energy
We lose capability if we don’t change our approach
Operational Energy Instruction
Energy in Acquisition / KPP
It’s not just technology that will advance the program. How our Sailors think about energy is also key and we’re actively involved in training, educating, and strategic messaging with the goal of changing behavior and ultimately Navy culture..
We have a dedicated team currently engaged in developing and integrating energy awareness training into the career training continuum for Sailors. The Team will incorporate energy training into existing courses to minimize cost and curriculum time.
We’ve already got initiatives in place such as the Aviation Energy Conservation Program (Air-ENCON) and the incentivized Energy Conservation Program (iENCON) setup to receive your ideas, make sure they are safe, and disseminate those best energy practices to the Fleet. And we are looking at ways to incorporate those efficiency ideas and procedures into the appropriate training continuum.
But we may also have outdated policies and instructions that are forcing you to be less efficient. I need your help to identify those places where we can improve. I want to make sure that you aren’t hamstrung by an obsolete policy and that we create policies that help to increase your capabilities, not limit them.
No one knows each of your warfare specialties and procedures better than you. You are the ones that can recognize where we can make improvements in TTPs, policies, and instructions.
What I am talking about is taking a hard look at the way we do business…the way we operate.
Are there ways we can be more efficient in our daily operations when we are tied to the pier, when underway, when flying both at home and deployed, and when operating in the field?
I’m not suggesting that we change our procedures to save a few bucks or risk performing unsafe procedures in the name of efficiency. We need to do it right. But it starts with each of you…the warfighter.
Warfighter Actions
Training & Education
iENCON / Air ENCON
Energy in War Games
milSuite Collaboration
Energy Warrior
We want your ideas!
Energy Training & Education Continuum
Fleet Energy Training
“Save energy when you can” → “Save energy unless you can’t”

6. “History doesn’t always repeat itself, but it rhymes”
Learn from History
As Mark Twain mused, “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it sure does rhyme.” Our imperative here is that we must go back to the future to WWII, when we had it right.
Doolittle raid: Many were skeptical that a successful mission of B-25s from an aircraft carrier was possible.
Planned launch distance for a successful attack and landing in China was to launch 400 miles from Japan
Due to earlier than anticipated engagement with Japanese ships, planes were forced to launch an extra 200 miles from planned point. Tactical adjustments to increase efficiency enabled mission success.
Both in Pacific and Atlantic theaters, safe transport of fuel, ammo and other supplies were critical to success:
Germany almost choked off Britain with wolf packs in Atlantic
US submarines successfully targeted supply ships for Japan throughout war and that is depicted in the above photo
As ADM King stated then, “Oil is ammunition”…it was a metaphor. As we move to all electric ships and put rail guns and directed energy weapons on ships, the fuel in the tank will provide kinetic effect as well as propulsion. Oil really is the ammunition in our future Fleet.
We must plan for tomorrow’s problems, not today’s…
Practicality: Operate and reparability
Scalability: Must be deployable
Mobility: Keep up with the Fleet
Vulnerability: Agile and survivable
The Way Forward: If we are going to create a culture of energy awareness that will resonate throughout the Fleet, we have to change the dialogue:
Rather than focusing on single issues, such as alternative fuels, Task Force Energy has been changing the dialogue through concerted efforts to increase our capabilities while decreasing our vulnerabilities
Operational commanders will have the tools to make energy conscious decisions and take informed actions to extend the life of their “Energy Magazine”—all to prevail in combat
“History doesn’t always repeat itself, but it rhymes”