Agency Unifies DoD Threat Reduction Effort

 


 By Jim Garamone

 
American Forces Press Service




 WASHINGTON – Calling it an important step in combating the 

 spread of weapons of mass destruction, Deputy Defense Secretary 

 John Hamre opened the doors Oct. 1 to a new agency specifically 

 structured to meet the growing threat.

 

 During an inauguration ceremony at Dulles International Airport 

 in nearby Loudon County, Va., Hamre participated in ceremonies 

 officially opening the Defense Threat Reduction Agency.

 

 "In the 10 years since the Berlin Wall came down, we have been 

 in a period of transition," Hamre said during a Pentagon news 

 briefing. He said the world must worry about what the future may 

 bring. The past, dominated by the rivalry between the United 

 States and the Soviet Union, meant a simple choice between to 

 ideologies. The world since the fall of communism is 

 "startlingly complicated," Hamre said, and highlights the need 

 for an organization like Defense Threat Reduction Agency.

 

 The agency, directed by Jay C. Davis, is the merger of the 

 Defense Special Weapons Agency, the On-Site Inspection Agency, 

 the Defense Technology Security Administration, and Pentagon 

 offices concerned with chemical, biological and nuclear weapons. 

 It is based in the former inspection agency's facilities 

 adjacent to Dulles.

 

 The agency's creation was mandated in the Defense Reform 

 Initiative of November 1997. Though the initiative contains many 

 cost-cutting measures, this isn't one of them, Hamre stressed.

 

 "In fact, I think [counterproliferation] is, unfortunately, a 

 growth industry," he said. "Aside from some savings from 

 consolidating administrative support, I think we may be adding 

 to the agency budget." The agency's fiscal 1999 budget is $1.3 

 billion, and half its more than 2,000 personnel are military.

 

 The new agency is a result of the increasing threat posed by 

 weapons of mass destruction. "We realized [DoD] was not 

 organized efficiently to counter this threat," said Air Force 

 Maj. Gen. Frank Moore, agency deputy director. "We were 

 fragmented and not postured well to respond to an incident."

 

 The consolidation makes the new agency the single point of 

 contact in DoD for weapons of mass destruction. Davis' staff 

 also includes representatives of the FBI, intelligence agencies 

 and the Department of Energy.

 

 Davis is formerly of Lawrence Livermore Laboratory in 

 California. He will report to Jacques Gansler, undersecretary of 

 defense for acquisition and technology, who said the agency 

 faces a formidable task. "We are asking them to address every 

 conceivable approach to reducing the threat of weapons of mass 

 destruction," Gansler said.

 

 The new director said the agency will work to define the threat. 

 In addition, his new Advanced Systems Concept Office will be 

 responsible for defining and analyzing emerging threats. The 

 office will have a small core of agency employees and experts 

 from academia, industry and other government agencies. 

 

 "They can help the agency set its course," Moore said.

 

 The threat reduction agency also will be involved in research to 

 improve force protection. Hamre said scientists will work to 

 provide better chemical and biological protective gear for 

 service members. The agency will also look at adapting military 

 gear to outfit civilian emergency workers -- "first responders."

 

 "They don't need [military] gear," Davis said. "There's a world 

 of difference between protecting an infantryman who has to fight 

 and maneuver in protective gear for 24 hours and a first 

 responder."

 

 The agency continues the work of its predecessors.. One section, 

 for instance, will take charge of DoD's stewardship and 

 technical support for all nuclear weapons; provide emergency 

 response teams for nuclear, chemical and biological incidents; 

 and provide the Joint Chiefs of Staff with vulnerability 

 assessments -- around 100 per year -- to help identify ways to 

 protect installations and people.

 

 Another section will continue the on-site inspection program. 

 Agency personnel will verify other nations' compliance with arms 

 control treaties and escort counterpart foreign inspectors in 

 the United States. 

 

 The agency will also be the central point of contact for the 

 Cooperative Threat Reduction program. This is the program that 

 helps Russia and other former Soviet republics destroy or 

 relocate their nuclear, chemical and biological arsenals. "This 

 has to be the most cost-effective defense program we have," 

 Moore said. "A Blackjack bomber destroyed today is one we won't 

 plan to defend against or worry whose hands it might fall into."

 

 The Defense Technology Security Administration's 

 responsibilities also transfer to the new agency. These include 

 ensuring crucial technology does not fall into unfriendly hands. 

 "When the Berlin Wall fell, it was easy to think this would be a 

 friendly world," Hamre said. "But this is not the case. It is a 

 dangerous world and we have to do more to protect our industrial 

 secrets."

 

 All its components must alloy for it to be successful "What is 

 needed in the future is a degree of integration, internal 

 synergy and outreach that was not required in the past," said 

 director Davis. "Our mission statement makes this clear: We will 

 reduce the present threat and prepare against the future 

 threat."