Pro-Environmental Energy Behavior in the Military: Assessing Behavior Change Factors at a Selected Military Unit

Rasa Smaliukiene,Gintaras Labutis,Ausrius Juozapavicius

doi:10.3390/en13010219

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to explore how pro-environmental energy behavior is manifested at a military unit and what behavioral change factors can enhance such behavior. The military unit represents an organization dominated by an exceptionally strong sense of community and belonging where individual pro-environmental energy behavior goes in line with a collective one. The application of Capability-Opportunity-Motivation-Behavior (COM-B) approach led to a better understanding of energy-saving behavior in the military as an organization where personnel are trained to increase their awareness of their peers’ behavior. Methods: The results were obtained using data collected from two independent samples of both professional soldiers and conscripts at a military unit of Lithuanian defense forces located in a fixed installation in the time frame of 2018–2019. The total sample of respondents (professional soldiers and conscripts) was N = 454. A series of statistical tests were performed at the 0.05 level of confidence. Results: An extended COM-B model for the analysis of pro-environmental energy behavior in the military was proposed and applied. The results show that the three behavioral change factors—capability, opportunity, and motivation—are first of all positively linked with the collective energy behavior at the military unit and only then with the individual soldier’s pro-environmental energy behavior. This is a new insight into the COM-B model as collective and individual behavior are identified as separate indicators and then combined into a single measurable construct. In addition, the results indicate that in the military unit, communality plays an important role in sustaining pro-environmental energy behavior, even if an individual behavior indicates low-involvement.

Highlights

Attention towards energy and energy security over the last decade increased as the efficient military energy usage is considered to be one of the key enablers of military operational capabilities.This trend is reflected in European Union (EU) and NATO strategic priorities and initiatives that underline the importance of ensuring energy security for military operations as well as reducing the environmental impact of military operations [1,2,3]
The purpose of this study is to explore how a politically and institutionally favorable environment that forces military transition towards the pro-environmental energy behavior is reflected at a military unit level
Many studies focused on technical solutions for reducing energy usage [33,39,40] and decision makers [5,14,41] and individual soldiers [10,24] to save energy

Summary

Introduction

Attention towards energy and energy security over the last decade increased as the efficient military energy usage is considered to be one of the key enablers of military operational capabilities. This trend is reflected in European Union (EU) and NATO strategic priorities and initiatives that underline the importance of ensuring energy security for military operations as well as reducing the environmental impact of military operations [1,2,3]. The energy behavior remains an inadequately explored factor in reducing the energy usage and increasing military energy security [9] and energy efficiency [10]. Even though energy behavior in the military is gaining more attention, overall attempts in changing energy behavior of military personnel remains a managerial challenge

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion