JOINT IMPROVISED-THREAT DEFEAT AGENCY JOINS DTRA/SCC-WMD AS THE JOINT IMPROVISED-THREAT DEFEAT ORGANIZATION

VA, UNITED STATES

10.03.2016

Story by Jessica Lewis 

Defense Threat Reduction Agency's Chemical and Biological Technologies Department

“We welcome the members of JIDO into DTRA, and we are all committed to ensuring mission success while in the background we integrate our forces,” said DTRA Acting Director Shari Durand. “While we may have different focus areas, both our missions have some overlapping Customers, threats and networks. As we start the learning process and understand more what each organization is doing that's when I think the greatest capabilities and the greatest synergy will come, and that will
benefit the warfighter tremendously.”

Collaborative teams from both DTRA and JIDO have been working through the issues associated with any large reorganization to ensure that both mission sets are not degraded. Both organizations are relatively young and have recently gone through their own transitions – JIDO started as an Army task force in 2003 to address the growing threat posed by improvised explosive devices (IEDs), and has evolved in terms of resources and responsibilities over the years; DTRA was stood up in 1998 by combining several WMD-related organizations and later incorporated the USSTRATCOM Center for Combating Weapons of Mass Destruction (SCC-WMD) and teamed with the Standing Joint Force Headquarters for Elimination of WMD (SJFHQ-E).

“The threat to our deployed warfighters from improvised threats continues to grow and as such, Congress and the Department of Defense have determined that our organization (JIDO) must be enduring,” said JIDO director Army Lt. Gen. Michael Shields. “We will continue to execute our Quick Reaction Capability mission as part of DTRA and as such, we will continue to help the warfighter adapt to the current and emerging threats on the battlefield by rapidly delivering capability at the speed of war. The only change the warfighter will experience is the change of our name.”

The transition of JIDO under DTRA is expected to result in greater mission collaboration and efficiencies over time. Efficiencies are anticipated through the integration of offices in management areas including: human resources, security and counterintelligence, financial management, contracts, facilities and logistics management, and in the command staff elements. Integration of these foundational supporting elements ensures a holistic integration of management practices and processes. Manpower efficiencies are expected once the offices are able to execute their missions under the revised structures and demonstrate no negative mission impact. Additionally, efficiencies are expected through collaboration and shared use of facilities and direct mission capabilities, such as testing and evaluation infrastructure for research and development.

• Date Taken: 10.03.2016
• Date Posted: 10.04.2016 08:23
• Story ID: 211239
• Location: VA, US