Operational energy meets hands-on discovery

CHIÈVRES AIR BASE, Belgium - For military installations, energy resilience means more than simply reducing energy consumption, it means ensuring critical operations can continue even when the primary power supply is disrupted. U.S. Army Garrison (USAG) Benelux partnered with USA Girl Scouts Overseas (UGSO) to introduce young learners to renewable energy, energy resilience and the importance of maintaining a reliable power supply at military installations, on Oct. 10, 2026, at Chièvres Air Base (CAB), Belgium.

The Girl Scouts explored the operational solar field on CAB to learn about renewable energy, grid reliability, and science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

Mélanie Chaballe, USAG Benelux Directorate of Public Works energy manager, brought the science to life with hands-on displays and guided the scouts through an energy roadmap.

"We are trying to raise awareness to the community about what the garrison does in regard to energy security and resilience," said Chaballe. "If we have an electric power outage, we want to make sure we have some resilient ways to sustain and maintain power to keep the mission running."

CAB currently harnesses solar arrays to generate electricity during peak daylight hours. By diversifying the power sources with renewable generation, backup generators and upcoming battery-storage capabilities, the garrison actively reduces vulnerability to disruptions and sharpens operational readiness.

For the visiting Girl Scouts, those industrial solar panels served as the backdrop for discovery. Equipped with questions designed to turn them into field investigators, the participants examined how photovoltaic cells capture sunlight before putting the principles to work by designing and racing miniature solar-powered cars.

The collaborative event also marked a milestone for the broader scout community, coinciding with the launch of a worldwide science, technology, engineering and science (STEM) initiative.

"We are launching a new energy patch that will be available to girls all over the world," said Erin Twamley, USA Girl Scouts Overseas STEM program partner. "We wanted to coordinate with our military bases on energy resiliency, so we reached out to the Directorate of Public Works to ask if we could partner with USAG Benelux and explore the solar field that helps power Chièvres Air Base."

By combining high-level military readiness with accessible, hands-on experiments, the collaboration showcased how military installations can bridge the gap between classroom theory and real-world technology.

Understanding energy resilience does not require an engineering degree, it begins with curiosity, a little sunlight and the opportunity to test what is possible. For USAG Benelux, the afternoon was an investment in both present readiness and future capability, securing today's power grid while inspiring the next generation of engineers who may one day design it.