Many More Career Opportunities Available As the U.S. Military Goes Green

If you're not realizing there are way more commercials now on prime-time television than ever before, vocalizing companies' efforts to go green, then all I can say is, you're either flipping channels during commercials or Facebooking on your smartphone. From HP, P&G, IBM, Apple to Honda, NBC and Panasonic, everyone is jumping on the green bandwagon. Then why not the U.S. military?

In a recent survey conducted by the Pew Project on National Security, Energy and Climate, the military is going green in ways impossible to relate with one of the world's largest consumer of fuel and energy. For example, as reported on AOL News, "troops in Afghanistan are using photovoltaic cells to power computers and spraying tents with insulation to cut heating and cooling costs."

Military Goes Green

The study goes on to discuss several initiatives that the defense department is undertaking that would sound elementary for any global corporation with similar energy use and global reach. For instance, the report predicts that within the next three years, "the Army will have 4,000 electric vehicles, [making it] one of the largest fleets in the world, saving 11 million gallons of gas a year." Not to be left behind, the Navy announced its initiative to explore alternative energy solutions last week on Earth Day by conducting a test flight of the Green Hornet, "an F/A-18 Super Hornet multirole fighter jet powered by a biofuel blend," according to the White House blog.

Green Jobs

Here's the question of the day: If the defense department can be part of a traditionally-run and bureaucratic-for-the-most-part, government administration, and initiate green programs, what is stopping businesses? We launched our Green Trends in the Workplace Survey last year to find out and the results were indicative of a lack of perspective as well as a traditional notion of "going green," i.e., recycling and using paper instead of plastic, across sectors. You can see the complete results here.

Adding to the debate more recently, have been the responses from our ongoing 2010 Law Firm survey, where we asked law associates what their firms do to be environmentally-friendly. Answers ranged from bizarre and funny to arrogant, ignorant and even a few that admitted they couldn't care less. (Read: Law Associates Talk Green: Does putting "think before you print" on emails count?)

Green Jobs in the Military

Worth noting is another fact: As these initiatives expand, they are creating new jobs not traditionally associated with the military, every day. And with the green job market proposed to be the next "Great Job Market", are we doing all we can to stay current and make sure that our skills and expertise remain relevant? Green careers cross industries and professions horizontally but this remains elusive to most job seekers even today. That you can use your current skill sets--without going back to school, as most fear--toward jobs and (stable) careers in non-traditional industries is now possible.

Check out our latest Guide to Military Careers, which explores further the many career options available in the military, including green careers. Besides, of course, the great work experience it provides for when and if you want to return to the private sector.

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