For centuries, armies in the field have faced situations where they had to live off whatever they could get their hands on. The saying “an army marches on its stomach” has been attributed to both Napoleon and Frederick the Great.
In the 21st century, the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency – DARPA – has enlisted Idaho National Laboratory to help create a mechanical system that soldiers can use to separate their garbage and turn it into everything they need to survive: food and water for their bodies, fuel and lubricants for their vehicles.
ReSource, a program started in 2019 under DARPA’s Biological Technologies Office, aims to revolutionize how critical supplies are procured. “In a remote or austere environment, where even the basics for survival can’t be taken for granted, there can be no such thing as ‘single use,’” Program Manager Blake Bextine said at the time the program was announced.