Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics through the Assistant
Secretary of Defense for Nuclear, Chemical, and Biological
Defense Programs. The Defense Threat Reduction Agency
also functions as a combat support agency that enables direct
support to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. In this
role, the Defense Threat Reduction Agency directly supports
the combatant commanders by providing technologies,
reachback capabilities, and deployable subject matter experts
that integrate with joint task forces. Finally, the Defense Threat
Reduction Agency director functions as the director of the U.S.
Strategic Command Center for Combating Weapons of Mass
Destruction and reports to the commander of the Strategic
Command.
of research and development, combating weapons of mass
destruction technologies, deployable experts who integrate
into joint staffs, expert reachback capabilities, training and
exercise programs, or consequence management assistance
programs, the Defense Threat Reduction Agency provides
a specifc niche in combating weapons of mass destruction
threats and ultimately in making the world a safer place.
The Center for Combating Weapons of Mass Destruction
is organized into an integrated enterprise structure that is
similar to a joint staff. Divisions are organized according to
the following joint staff codes:
National Security Strategy, May 2010, , accessed on 25 April 2013.
y
y
y
y
y
y
J-1: Human Resources.
J-2/5/8R: Intelligence, Plans, and Resource Integration.
J-3/7: Operations, Exercise, and Readiness.
J-4/8C: Acquisition, Finance, and Logistics.
J-6: Information Operations.
J-9: Research and Development.
These entities respond to requirements by delivering new
technology across Department of Defense and ally spectra. The
Defense Threat Reduction Agency also provides combating
weapons of mass destruction and nuclear-mission expertise to
the Offce of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy and
other Department of Defense components.
In addition, the Defense Threat Reduction Agency works
closely with the Department of State, the Department of
Energy, and host nations to provide assessments and "onsite arms control inspections, escort of foreign inspectors,
prepar[ation of] U.S. sites for foreign inspections, and . . .
monitoring and verifcation assistance to treaty negotiators."13
Combating weapons of mass destruction is one of the
Nation's top priorities, and the Defense Threat Reduction
Agency is an extraordinary example of an agency with
the capability to synchronize combating weapons of mass
destruction efforts across the Department of Defense, other
U.S. government agencies, and foreign nations. Perhaps
most compelling is the unique ability of the Defense
Threat Reduction Agency to build partnership capacities to
synchronize a global effort that systematically deters, prevents,
and eliminates weapons of mass destruction. The multiple
reporting chains of command (Assistant Secretary of Defense
for Nuclear, Chemical, and Biological Defense Programs;
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Strategic Command)
enable the Defense Threat Reduction Agency to coordinate and
leverage with many different agencies inside and outside the
U.S. government. In these roles, the Defense Threat Reduction
Agency combats weapons of mass destruction threats across
the full spectrum of combating weapons of mass destruction
strategies in the areas of nonproliferation, counterproliferation,
and consequence management. Whether it is through the use
12
Endnotes:
1
National
Strategy
to
Combat
Weapons
of
Mass
Destruction,
December
2002,
, accessed
on 25 April 2013.
2
Army Knowledge Online (AKO) Course J3S T-MN056,
Interagency Process Course, U.S. Joint Forces Command.
3
4
National Military Strategy to Combat Weapons of
Mass Destruction, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,
13 February 2006, , accessed on 29 April 2013.
Ibid.
5
"Offce of Cooperative Threat Reduction (ISN/CTR)"
Web site, Department of State, , accessed on 30 April 2013.
6
"Defense Threat Reduction Agency and U.S. Strategic
Command Center for Combating WMD Overview Briefng,"
October 2012, ,
accessed on 1 May 2013.
7
Ibid.
8
9
National Military Strategy to Combat Weapons of Mass
Destruction, 2006.
10
Joint Publication (JP) 3-0, Joint Operations, 11 August
2011, ,
accessed on 30 April 2013.
"Defense Threat Reduction Agency," Protection, Center
for Army Lessons Learned, U.S. Army Combined Arms
Center, August 2010, , accessed on 30 April 2013.
11
12
National Military Strategy to Combat Weapons of Mass
Destruction, 2006.
"Defense Threat Reduction Agency and U.S. Strategic
Command Center for Combating WMD Overview Briefng,"
October 2012.
13
Major Galbraith is an interagency fellow assigned as
a consequence management team leader, Consequence
Management Division, Defense Threat Reduction Agency,
Fort Belvoir, Virginia. He holds a bachelor's degree in
neurobiology, physiology, and behavior from the University
of California–Davis and a master's degree in environmental
management from Webster University.
Army Chemical Review