Napoleon's army may have marched on its stomach, but a modern military force needs more than just food to survive in the field. Electricity powers everything on an army base, so having a power grid is important if troops are going to be able to function inside a country. War often takes troops to places where the infrastructure is unavailable, destroyed, or never existed, so it's up to the U.S. Army to bring their own power with them. Tested from April 13 through April 24 at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, the Army has its own portable mini power grid.

The system is called an Energy Informed Operations, or EIO, microgrid, and its innovative feature is not that it supplies power. That's something the Army already has years of experience in. Instead, the grid is about managing that power well, so that the military can cut down on wasted energy and fuel supplies while still creating a habitable environment for troops.