The United States military, tasked with defending the nation, is instead using defense research and development dollars to learn how to compost.

According to the US Army’s latest budget proposal, 3 million dollars has been awarded this year for what has been euphemistically labeled “Installation Composting for Land Resilience.”

This misguided project is both a waste of taxpayer dollars and a distraction from the military’s core mission of providing combat capabilities to defend American security interests.

Unfortunately, military research and development is full of these kinds of science projects with no military benefit. This project is part of a wider one 14 million dollars initiative spread over the next five years that falls under the Army’s Net Zero program.

The Net Zero strategy aims to reduce the Army’s environmental impact by focusing specifically on energy, water and waste management.

Sounds good, right? Wrong. It points to a deeply troubling shift in the military’s focus. The $3 million devoted to compost research is explicit is described such as funding for “composting demonstration operations” and “climate change guidance for integrated solid waste management.”

How many studies need to be done to understand composting, something that has been around for centuries? The US Army has consistently “researched” such issues and spending $14 million more over the next five years is unlikely to yield different results.

Furthermore, the redundancy of this research initiative is astounding. Not only has the USDA already invested $11.5 million in composting and waste reduction projects in the states, but the Environmental Protection Agency has dedicated billions to research on climate resilience.

The Army is essentially duplicating an effort already carried out by a federal agency specifically tasked with dealing with agricultural or environmental issues.

It doesn’t end there. A similar one study was carried out by the army i 2013 and 2014 where profound conclusions were drawn that composting is the “most direct way to address all waste components.”

The Army justifies such research expenditures by pointing to a future reduction in costs associated with solid waste disposal, but at least some cost reductions should have been largely achieved by 2015 after the first study with guidance for composting operations was published. Composting has been an intrinsic aspect of military installations for decades since the DOD requires each base to develop an integrated solid waste management plan. At least that’s how it’s been since then 2008.

This is not to say that the military should ignore environmental concerns completely or that composting is bad. Composting is great. But such considerations should simply be integrated into existing operations, not a cycle of stand-alone multimillion-dollar initiatives that risk compromising the Army’s primary purpose.

The problem isn’t just the three million wasted taxpayer dollars, or even $14 million if you look at the project as a whole, it’s the precedent it sets. Will we see money to produce our already depleted missiles diverted to track the carbon footprint left by firing such weapons?

Thus, the broader issue at hand extends far beyond an incessant flight of $14 million into supposed composting research.

The Net Zero program, of which composting research is only a small part, demonstrates a significant shift in military priorities. Another central goal of the program is to reduce the Army’s greenhouse gases emissions 50% by 2030 and reach net zero emissions by 2050.

In fact, Secretary of Defense Loyd Austin remarked back in 2021 that the department would “immediately take appropriate policy actions to prioritize climate change considerations in” military operations. These ambitious goals are unrealistic on a large scale and extremely harmful to national security.

While the US prioritizes reaching net zero emissions, opponents like China continue to expand its military capabilities without such aggressive self-imposed limitations. The Army’s priority should remain focused on effective defense and readiness; defense dollars spent elsewhere waste valuable resources on redundant, non-essential, feel good initiative which provides minimal military benefit.

At this point, whether the military has understood the basics of composting or not, the investment in climate change projects and policies under the Net Zero program continues diverts critical assets from military readiness.

As America faces an increasingly unstable global security landscape, it is critical that the military’s core mission of combat readiness is a priority.

No matter how climate resilient the United States is, our advanced waste management systems or lack of emissions will most likely not provide a sufficient deterrent to our opponents.