Operational energy meets hands-on discovery

USAG Benelux partnered with USA Girl Scouts Overseas (UGSO) to introduce young learners to renewable energy and energy resilience. 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. 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