“My understanding is that they have been a revelation for the bases that conducted them.”Įxperts say the Defense Department and its branch services recognized an emerging risk during the 2010s when grid-delivered power to military installations was disrupted by extreme events, including hurricanes in coastal zones, river floods in the heartland, and wind and firestorms in the Mountain West and Pacific. “I think they took it well, but it wasn’t a welcome surprise,” she said. Sharon Burke, founder of the environmental research and advisory firm Ecospherics and former DoD assistant secretary for operational energy, said in an interview that some basewide ERREs, such as at Fort Bragg in 2019, surprised base commanders. Chad Foster said of the March 15 ERRE at the sprawling Texas base, the largest active duty armored post in the United States. We have to accomplish the intent of the exercise, that is to allow us to see our infrastructure, how it performs, what improvements need to be made,” Fort Hood Garrison Cmdr. The Navy made clear in its recent Climate Action 2030 report that climate security “can be strengthened through” ERREs. and Fort Stewart, Ga.Ī spokesperson for the Navy’s Facilities Engineering Systems Command said the department will complete three black-start exercises in 2022. Fort Greely, Alaska Fort Hood, Texas Fort Knox, Ky. To date, the Army has completed ERREs at Fort Bragg, N.C. The 2021 National Defense Authorization Act requires a minimum of five “black start” exercises per military department per year. The “black start” drills are not optional. “Under this controlled environment, complications can be more easily mitigated before an actual unplanned disruption occurs.”
Air Force bases in Alaska, California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Ohio and South Carolina also have undergone drills to “help installations ensure mission continuity by testing the impacts of a disruption in commercial electricity to the installation, such as would occur in a natural disaster,” the Air Force said in a recent release about the program.
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