Photo By Clemens Gaines | Brig. Gen. William E. King IV (center), commanding general of the 20th CBRNE Command...... read more read more
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Mission effectiveness, saving the government a bunch of money, and employee support to relocate were the highlights at the July 10 CARA-West Restationing Ceremony in Building 5673 on Redstone Arsenal, Alabama.
The 37-person unit, led by Mark Hammond, supervisory program manager for CARA-West, plus five million dollars' worth of equipment, moved from Pine Bluff, Arkansas, this spring.
“I’ve been impressed with the way the CARA team stepped up with the incredible challenge of moving CARA-West and their families to Redstone Arsenal without any decrease in accomplishing the mission,” said Brig. Gen. William E. King IV, commanding general of the 20th CBRNE Command. “It is a testimony to the leadership of the Chris Chesney and Mark Hammond and the entire CARA team that this move has gone so well. Hooah to CARA!”
Three years ago, CARA headquarters calculated that restationing the unit would result in annual savings of $1.5 million. Those funds represent the temporary duty allowances to team members who, since 2013, often spent the majority of their working year (more than 200 days) clearing areas on Redstone Arsenal of potential explosive and contaminated materials. The U.S. Army Audit Agency has verified that the projected savings is estimated at $36 million over the next 24 years.
"Even though we did our part to save taxpayers millions, the whole goal of the move was to improve the quality of life of the CARA-West employees and their families,” said Christopher Chesney, director, CARA. “Being away from home on a temporary duty status for an extended period of time is entirely unsustainable for a myriad of reasons, so the move just made too much sense"
The team’s full name – CBRNE Analytical and Remediation Activity (CARA) – denotes a mission set that is highly technical, often outside in all kinds of weather conditions, and sometimes dangerous when dealing with chemical weapons and explosives. The acronym CBRNE (Chemical Biological Radiological Nuclear and Explosives) itself lends to the complicated mission set the organization undergoes.
CARA's mission includes recovering chemical weapons, conducting remediation operations, surety and technical escort operations, clearing areas of unexploded munitions, and analytical laboratory operations, all highly technical and exacting, teamwork-based skills and operations.
The team that uprooted from Pine Bluff to set down new roots in the Redstone Arsenal area (adjacent to Huntsville) includes 15 chemical engineering technicians, 15 unexploded ordnance technicians, five administrative specialists and two munition assessment specialists. Only two members of the CARA-West team chose to retire rather than make the move to Alabama.
CARA also has a mirror organization, CARA-East, located at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, with the same mission set to provide coverage of Recovered Chemical Warfare Material emergency response and remediation operations across the United States and overseas. The CARA-East team provided instrumental support in this move by backfilling the remediation project at Redstone Arsenal for the past few months to allow CARA-West to move.
Media coverage included the local affiliates for ABC, NBC and Fox television, as well as a story in the Redstone Rocket, the garrison newspaper.
Chesney emphasized that “the CARA organization is appreciative of the welcoming hospitality of the Redstone and Huntsville communities. This move furthers the partnership and teamwork with the installation, the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the Army Environmental Command.”
| Date Taken: | 07.13.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 07.13.2017 11:30 |
| Story ID: | 240980 |
| Location: | HUNTSVILLE, AL, US |
| Web Views: | 829 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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