{"id":134935,"date":"2024-03-04T23:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-03-05T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=134935"},"modified":"2024-03-06T00:43:29","modified_gmt":"2024-03-06T00:43:29","slug":"ceremony-celebrates-completion-of-microgrid-at-fort-cavazos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=134935","title":{"rendered":"Ceremony celebrates completion of microgrid at Fort Cavazos"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
\n
\n <\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n <\/span>
\n <\/span>

\n
\n
\n Fort Cavazos, state and local leadership prepare to cut the ribbon to celebrate the newly operational intelligent energy grid sustainability and restoration microgrid tool during a ceremony March 1 at Robert Gray Army Airfield. (U.S. Army photo by Scott Darling, Fort Cavazos Public Affairs)
\n (Photo Credit: U.S. Army)<\/span>
\n <\/span>
\n VIEW ORIGINAL<\/a>
\n <\/span>
\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

FORT CAVAZOS, Texas \u2014 <\/strong>Fort Cavazos, state and local leadership gathered Feb. 23 at Robert Gray Army Airfield here for a ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate the completion of an intelligent energy grid sustainability and restoration microgrid tool.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn my role as the commander of III Armored Corps and as a senior commander for Fort Cavazos I really have two big responsibilities,\u201d said Lt. Gen. Sean C. Bernabe, III Armored Corps and Fort Cavazos commander. \u201cOne of those is the care of our Soldiers, all of our DA (Department of Army) civilian teammates and their families. The other big responsibility is maintaining our readiness \u2014 the readiness of III Armored Corps as America\u2019s Hammer, as the fighting force, the readiness of Fort Cavazos as a power projection platform, as a place from which we project the combat power of the United States Army overseas to do our nation\u2019s bidding. As I think about those two big duties, this microgrid project and the energy resilience it provides is all about those two things.\u201d<\/p>\n

The now operational microgrid can provide a minimum of 14 days of operational capability for 43 Fort Cavazos facilities at West Fort Cavazos, even if the state were to lose power. It also has the ability to provide more than $125,000 in energy savings per day during any Electric Reliability Council of Texas peak demand period, among other capabilities.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we have some type of a major power issue in this area, flash back to what some people call the \u2018Snowpocalypse.\u2019 I think we called it officially winter storm Uri back in February of 2021,\u201d Bernabe said. \u201cI watched that from a distance \u2026 it was a tough event for Fort Cavazos and this community. This microgrid actually allows us to continue to power all the barracks, the dining facility and those facilities on West Fort Cavazos that help us care for our Soldiers and their families.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n
\n \"Lt.
\n <\/a>
\n <\/span>
\n <\/span>
\n
\n
\n Lt. Gen. Sean C. Bernabe, III Armored Corps and Fort Cavazos commander peaks to those gathered for the microgrid ribbon cutting ceremony Feb. 23 at Robert Gray Army Airfield. (U.S. Army photo by Blair Dupre, Fort Cavazos Public Affairs)
\n (Photo Credit: Photo by Blair Dupre)<\/span>
\n <\/span>
\n VIEW ORIGINAL<\/a>
\n <\/span>
\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cBeyond that \u2026 if we had some type of a challenge with the major power network in this area and as I think about that second responsibility \u2026 well this microgrid project powers critical infrastructure like the air traffic control tower,\u201d he continued. \u201cThe tower that would allow us to land C-17s in a crisis and put combat power on that aircraft and fly it somewhere around the world to do our nation\u2019s bidding. I\u2019m thankful that it\u2019s going to help me accomplish my two big tasks as a senior commander.\u201d<\/p>\n

During the ceremony, Texas State Rep. Brad Buckley shared words of wisdom that he received from Gen. Robert Shoemaker, \u201cWe must begin to think regionally.\u201d Shoemaker explained to Buckley that projects that fall outside of someone\u2019s immediate realm of responsibility can have immeasurable benefits that may not be recognizable at the moment but could become clear in the future.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you look at this project, you think about the partnership with leaders at Fort Cavazos, leaders in the state of Texas, leaders with our partners on Fort Cavazos and our local leaders in the city of Temple \u2014 that is exactly the scenario that General Shoemaker, very directly, told me,\u201d Buckley said. \u201cWinter storm Uri revealed a big problem \u2026 Here\u2019s a problem presented, let\u2019s solve it for the greater good. The greater good that will protect this country, that will protect the men and women that serve it, will protect the communities we serve and will absolutely defend this nation and protect this nation from its enemies across the globe.\u201d<\/p>\n

In order to build the microgrid, U.S. Army Garrison-Fort Cavazos, the city of Temple and Dominion Energy competed for a $5 million Defense Economic Adjustment Assistance Grant, also referred to as DEAAG. Executive Director of the Texas Military Preparedness Commission Keith Graf said DEAAG funds projects that add value or contribute to military installations like the microgrid.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis project is a true partnership with funding for the city of Temple, the state of Texas and the United States Army,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Lastly, Mark Vick, air traffic control chief of the Directorate of Aviation Operations, took the podium and said the reliable power source is critical to the operations at the air traffic control facilities, which affect not only Fort Cavazos, but all military and civilian aircraft within 60 nautical miles of the installation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe power redundancy will ensure air traffic control facility operations continue their missions without interruptions and ensure aircraft operations are conducted safely at Robert Gray Army Airfield, Killeen Regional Airport and seven additional military and civilian encompassing 11 counties in Central Texas,\u201d he explained. \u201cFort Cavazos, our local communities and the state of Texas have been great partners and projects such as the microgrid are shining examples of this fact. This project will ensure an everlasting impact on the air traffic control mission here at Fort Cavazos.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fort Cavazos, state and local leadership prepare to cut the ribbon to celebrate the newly operational intelligent energy grid sustainability and restoration microgrid tool during a ceremony March 1 at Robert Gray Army Airfield. (U.S. Army photo by Scott Darling, Fort Cavazos Public Affairs) (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL FORT CAVAZOS, Texas \u2014 Fort […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":134937,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-134935","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134935","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=134935"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134935\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":134940,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134935\/revisions\/134940"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/134937"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=134935"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=134935"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=134935"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}