Energizing Interdisciplinarity
The U.S. military is the largest single consumer of energy in the United States. Global attention to the management of energy resources will require the Department of Defense (DoD) to address its energy consumption. Prompted by a DoD directive on environmental sustainability, this chapter provides a case study on West Point’s potential to assist the Army with the problem of energy consumption through its participation in the DoD’s Net Zero Energy initiative. To be successful, West Point must transform its largely compartmentalized curriculum into one with interdisciplinary potential. Although its mission—to develop commissioned leaders of character for the Army—has changed very little during the past two centuries, its approach to leader development has shifted from a pedagogical orientation on attrition to development. This pedagogical model, when coupled with the energy initiative, is positioned to transform undergraduate education at West Point with an enhanced sense of urgency and action.