SAVE Award 2011 Ideas

Many installations pride themselves on golf courses, fountains, parks and the amazing green grass they offer. Many bases are in areas where grass is NOT normal. Desert or mountain climates simply do not have the green grass offered in other lush places. Most installations spend millions on keeping the base green, putting down sod 4 or 5 times per year in the same places because it dies. The sod does not grow from the... more »

When I deployed to the Middle East, I found large fields of nasty diesel electric generators powering our base (and many, many air conditioners) spewing out God-knows-what while requiring a constant supply of fuel. Fuel delivery costs loads more than stateside, because of security measures. However, the desert has an abundance of both wind and sunlight.
The cost scale most certainly will tip toward the renewables when... more »

The core mission of the Naval Air Warfare Centers is to provide the highest-performing weapons systems at an affordable cost to the Warfighter. It is not the core mission to sustain vast lawns in the desert. The Department of Defense should cut landscaping costs and divert that savings into furthering the development of weapons systems. We will not win the next war by having the best lawns in the world. Beautiful,... more »