Photo By Sarah Lobos | COL Rodney D. McCutcheon assumed command of the Redstone Chemical Activity in a...... read more read more
REDSTONE ARSENAL, ALABAMA -- The U.S. Army Chemical Materials Activity (CMA) stood up a new chemical activity in January to support cleanup of recovered chemical weapons at U.S. Army Garrison-Redstone Arsenal, Alabama.
Redstone’s chemical weapons history could lead to recovery of a large amount of chemical warfare materiel during the Army’s investigative and environmental remediation activities expected to occur for decades to come. Fortunately, a commander with unique skills was available to lead the recently formed Redstone Chemical Activity (RCA), as Col. Rodney D. McCutcheon brought chemical demilitarization and storage experience to establish the RCA mission on solid footing.
McCutcheon assumed command of the RCA in September 2024, before its official activation in January, with 25 years of Chemical Corps experience which includes two particularly relevant command positions. He was the final commander of Pueblo Chemical Depot (PCD), Colorado, overseeing the casing of the PCD colors the day before assuming command of RCA; and he commanded Blue Grass Chemical Activity (BGCA) in Kentucky when the Department of Defense resumed U.S. chemical weapons stockpile destruction operations after more than a 10-year hiatus.
“The Army has been undergoing transformation for years as we move toward Army 2030,” McCutcheon said. “While we often consider this transformation in terms of military strength, it’s important to recognize the role that supporting missions such as the cleanup of Redstone Arsenal plays in the sustainment and materiel readiness for our future operating environment.”
His unique “bookend” perspective on beginning and ending stockpile storage and destruction provide him the background to address the distinct differences at RCA, particularly that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is still remediating Redstone Arsenal locations where hundreds of thousands of chemical and conventional weapons were buried after World War II.
“This is my third location in the Army Materiel Command, Joint Munitions Command and Chemical Materials Activity commands,” McCutcheon said. “They all have one thing in common, and that's teamwork. Having skilled professionals on board is one thing. Having the right personalities on board to work together, coordinate and synchronize with other stakeholders has been the driving factor to success across all three commands.”
McCutcheon believes so strongly in the importance of cooperation and communication between fellow mission stakeholders that he is making it an RCA command focus. Building a culture in which stakeholders know their roles on a valued and trusted team will bring mission success.
“At the stockpile locations, by the time I arrived the work to account for and properly store the munitions had already been done. What we have here at Redstone is a different deal,” McCutcheon said. “Thank goodness we can incorporate a lot of the lessons learned and the expertise that CMA has in-house from the stockpile locations into this new mission set at Redstone. We are putting the right capability in place to make sure it gets done well.”
RCA’s roles and responsibilities range from compliant storage of recovered chemical warfare materiel (RCWM) and munitions and explosives of concern recovered from Redstone Arsenal burial sites to air monitoring in storage igloos and lock-and-key security. RCA also facilitates safe transport and delivery of RCWM from storage igloos to the destruction site and will support treaty-mandated accountability for all munitions from confirmatory assessment through destruction.
RCA supports workforce safety by conducting mask fittings, providing personal protective equipment storage and operating a specialized laundry facility to maintain mission-specific personal protective equipment (PPE). As the Corps of Engineers works on areas with buried munitions, McCutcheon said the Redstone recovery mission could become a 24/7 rotation.
“You need an entity on-station that can provide all of the PPE, and the oversight and storage of it,” McCutcheon said. “We bring everything in-house at Redstone Arsenal so that it doesn’t have to be outsourced. In this very budget-conscious environment right now, we can do this very efficiently and at a much lower cost.”
McCutcheon’s experiences in Colorado and Kentucky led to his understanding of the extensive coordination among multiple stakeholders of the Installation Restoration Program (IRP) at the Arsenal to include the RCWM mission required for safe, environmentally compliant success. Those stakeholders include the USACE, which manages the IRP; the CMA Recovered Chemical Materiel Directorate (RCMD), which manages assessment and destruction operations; the 20th CBRNE Analytical Remediation Activity-Remediation Response West, which packages, transports and assesses recovered munitions; AMC and Redstone Arsenal commanders; mission partners on the Arsenal; and the surrounding community.
“Synchronizing our efforts to get the mission accomplished safely is the linchpin,” McCutcheon said.
Headquartered at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, CMA supports chemical weapons treaty compliance, assesses and destroys RCWM, and retains expertise for safe, secure storage of munitions and other items of chemical concern.
| Date Taken: | 09.09.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 09.09.2025 12:17 |
| Story ID: | 547643 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 113 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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