New DOD Climate Plan: Adjust Ops, Training, Gear for Extreme Weather
Virtual exercises will help when wildfires rage; equipment will be tested for health effects in intense heat and cold.
Tara Copp
By Tara Copp
Senior Pentagon Reporter, Defense One
October 7, 2021
From hurricane winds that ravage military bases to monster wildfires that shut down exercises, extreme weather is forcing the military to rapidly shift how it trains and equips, the Defense Department said in its 2021 climate plan Thursday.
“More extreme environments may require changes to where and how U.S. forces train for future conflict,” the Department’s 32-page action plan found, as it laid out how its force, weapons systems and facilities will be able to operate as rising temperatures and sea levels introduce dangerous variables to people, buildings and gear.
In the last year alone, wildfires in California shut down more than a dozen training exercises at Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake because it was too dangerous for personnel and aircraft to operate in the heat and smoke.
https://www.defenseone.com/threats/2021/10/new-dod-climate-plan-adjust-ops-training-gear-extreme-weather/185926/
