Marines going green to save lives on battlefield

03/21/11

By Julie Watson, The Associated Press
March 2011

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. — The Marine Corps is going green to save lives rather than to save the planet.

In a renewable energy strategy revealed to troops Monday, the service said it plans to equip thousands of Marines in Afghanistan with solar-powered gadgets over the next year in an effort to decrease the need to make risky runs for fuel through enemy territory.

The Marine Corps said the change comes after the service studied a three-month period last year and found that one Marine is wounded for every 50 trips made for fuel or water in Afghanistan.

The strategy also addresses the ongoing problem of U.S. reliance on the questionable practices of private security companies in Afghanistan that are used to protect the convoys. A congressional inquiry last year found that some of those companies have been inadvertently funneling money to the Taliban and threatening the safety of coalition troops because contractors often don't vet local recruits and wind up hiring warlords and thugs.

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