Transforming Energy on the Battlefield : My Unconventional Path in the Marine Corps

Brandon Newell
Jul 25, 2017 · 8 min read
YouTube video highlighting the author’s Expeditionary Energy work in Afghanistan (click for link)

As I described in my previous article, I am wrapping up my year as the first Military Fellow at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). I wanted to utilize this article to highlight how NREL has helped shaped my career on two different occasions, first in energy and now in mobility. In the previous article, I covered how I went about creating the fellowship and how it has launched my efforts in mobility for the Marine Corps. I wanted to complement that by highlighting the role the Lab served back in 2009 when I was earning my Masters in Electrical Engineering (EE). That led to my being selected to join the Commandant’s Marine Energy Assessment Team, sent to Afghanistan to evaluate Marine Corps energy issues in theater, and then becoming the Technology Lead for transforming energy on the battlefield at the Expeditionary Energy Office. In that role, I deployed to Afghanistan on multiple occasions installing, operating and evaluating renewable energy and demand reduction systems. Based on the data collected and my lessons learned, the Marine Corps now fields microgrids and is developing hybrid systems (solar, storage, and generators) today. These systems are making Marines more efficient, reducing fuel demand, and thereby minimizing dangerous logistics convoys.

Stepping Stones

I always had an interest in renewable energy dating back to sixth grade when I built a solar model car in science class. In fact, in 1996 when I showed up at orientation before starting my freshman year at Louisiana State University, my student guide asked me what I wanted to major in. I asked if they had anything like solar engineering. He, being the well-rounded English major he was, offered, “I think Electrical Engineering is kind of like that.” So, I majored in EE. I turns out I didn’t like it and wasn’t very good at it. I just got by and I didn’t do a single class on renewable energy.

Fast forward to 2007, I was serving as the Communications Officer for the Third Radio Battalion at Marine Corps Base Kaneohe Bay, in Hawaii. I had spent the previous six years as a Communications Officer in the fleet, which is how we refer to deployable units, and was ready for my first non-fleet tour. I decided to apply for the Special Education Program, which sends Marine Corps Officers to Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) in Monterey, CA.

I opted to take a second run at EE and focus on renewable energy. When I arrived at NPS the summer of 2008, I found that there was very little renewable energy to be learned. There was one professor who worked on space-based solar for NASA, but in general there were no classes relevant to my goals. I decided I needed to learn on my own. I spent the first six-months googling “DOD” and “Energy”. I would cold call anyone I could find an email address or phone number for. Unlike today, where there has been much focus on renewable energy and energy efficiency in DOD, back in 2008, there was almost zero.

Introduction to NREL

During my googling, I came across the NREL lead for the Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP). Of course I cold called him to discuss what work NREL was doing with DOD. He introduced me to two key individuals at NREL, Dr. John Barnett and Dr. Andy Walker. Dr. Walker invited me to join him to do solar assessments on rooftops across San Francisco, one month later. He led me across the city’s rooftops teaching me how to calculate solar potential for the buildings below. We even conducted solar assessments at Alcatraz, which was a highlight.

The trip had whet my appetite and I knew I had much more to learn. Following that trip, Dr. Barnett and I collaborated to create an internship for me at NREL for the upcoming summer. Internships were not a common practice for students at Naval Postgraduate School but my mind was set on making it happen. Eventually, I convinced the school to release me for six weeks. Additionally, someone at the office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Energy agreed to pay for it.

I spent my time as an intern at NREL working with Dr. Walker, who is one of the pre-eminent leaders across the Department of Energy for assessing different types of renewable energy and energy efficiency capabilities for unique locations with a focus on financial analysis. In fact, the tool he developed and which I helped work on, called the Renewable Energy Optimization (REO) Tool, has now been developed into the REOpt tool, which supports renewable energy analysis around the globe.

Dr. Barnett and I collaborated on a white paper for the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) recommending that DOD create a Liaison Officer position at NREL and establish formal internship opportunities for officers to spend time there.

Expeditionary Energy

Commandant of the Marine Corps, Gen. James T. Conway addresses the audience at the 2009 Marine Corps Energy Summit at the Hyatt Regency Hotel August 13.

During my internship, I found out the Commandant of the Marine Corps was hosting something called the Marine Corps Energy Summit to be held in Washington D.C. the final week of my internship. I knew I needed to find my way there, so I once again found someone to fund my travel. This Summit is famous for two reasons. First, it marked the first time a service chief highlighted the impact of fuel to forces on the battlefield. Second, it kicked off the operational energy focused efforts across the DOD.

At the Summit, Commandant Conway stated, he had just returned from Afghanistan and he was deeply concerned with risk and cost associated with moving fuel and water around the battlefield. To address this, he was taking two steps, which both proved critical to my career. First, within three weeks he was sending a team to Afghanistan to “get to the bottom” of energy, water, and waste. Second, he was creating an office focused on the problem to be named the Expeditionary Energy Office (E2O).

Later that day, retired Vice Admiral Denny McGinn briefed on the findings of a recent study conducted by the Center for Naval Analyses, for which he was on the Advisory Board. He articulated that one of the recommendations was to create Liaison Officer positions at labs like NREL. I shot out of my seat during question and answer. I shared that I was the first ever active duty intern at NREL and that we had recently submitted a white paper to OSD suggesting the same Liaison Officer proposal. Admiral McGinn replied, “Make sure the Commandant gets that white paper” and the Commandant nodded his head at me. This was a huge development for a lowly Captain.

Following the event, a General approached me and said he had two tasks for me. One, I would be joining the team going to Afghanistan in three weeks and two, when I graduated, I would have orders to the soon to be created Expeditionary Energy Office at the Pentagon.

The team sent to Afghanistan went by the moniker, Marine Energy Assessment Team (MEAT). We traveled all over Helmand Province wrapping our heads around the challenges of logistics in the most widespread area of operation the Marine Corps had ever operated in. Following the trip, we met with the Commandant to report our findings, which can be found at this link. Then I returned to school to finish my Masters program.

A year later, I reported to the Expeditionary Energy Office at the Pentagon. I became the Technology Lead tasked with evaluating energy technologies and their potential impacts to warfighting capabilities. Additionally, I was the liaison to all DOD and DOE labs, as well as industry and academy. The highlight of that tour was deploying to Afghanistan with energy technologies we had previously evaluated on installations through our Experimental Forward Operating Base (ExFOB) process. (See more at this video). Among other things, I evaluated a hybrid photovoltaic, storage, and generator system on a small patrol base. You can see a video highlighting this effort here. After returning to the states, we utilized that analysis to develop the Marine Corps’ Capabilities Development Document (CDD) for Mobile Electric Hybrid Power Systems (MEHPS). A video concerning MEHPS impacts for the Marine Corps can be viewed here. This CDD is the foundational requirements document that supports the Marine Corps’ current hybrid and micro-grid acquisition efforts to provide more efficient energy capabilities to warfighters. In the spirit of reflection, it’s fun to look back and note that I became a key driver in changing the Marine Corps’ energy perspectives during my time with E2O — simply because I took chances in reaching out to (sometimes very senior) individuals who understood the linkage between energy and combat capabilities.

History Repeats Itself

Prior to E2O, my experience at NREL gave me the tools, confidence, connections and a level of expertise that could be leveraged to enhance the Marine Corps’ capabilities through improved understanding of energy challenges and solutions. Now it seems history is repeating itself. My current Fellowship at NREL has given me opportunities to develop new connections, expertise and ideas related to transportation challenges within the Marine Corps. I have become the Chair of the USMC’s Mobility Transformation Working Group, leading mobility innovation on installations. One objective of this working group is to leverage findings from other government transportation initiatives such as the Smart City Challenge led by the Department of Transportation. Similar to my first “tour” at NREL, my eyes have been opened to perspectives and opportunities outside of the military that can be heavily leveraged to benefit the Marine Corps.

While the figures above show straight lines of progression, there have been many pit stops and detours along the way. Two themes have remained present though. The first is that my motivation to reach out to new, and sometimes unconventional, mentors has created unprecedented opportunities that can and have been leveraged for the Marine Corps’ benefit. The second is that my times at NREL have been catalysts for breakthrough progressions in my career and ability to create impact in the Corps. As I noted in my first article, my peers have often thought my tactics to be insane, and I won’t argue their logic. But luckily the risks I have taken have paid off for both the Marine Corps and myself. Hopefully my story of passionate pursuits and unconventional career paths will inspire Marines and other service members to follow their own passions to the benefit of all those in uniform.

About the Author: Major Brandon Newell is the Chair of the Marine Corps Mobility Transformation Working Group. He has 16 years as an active duty Marine, specializing in Communications, Energy Systems and now Mobility. He has a M.S and B.S. in Electrical Engineering. You can reach him on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandon-newell-712b6793.

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