FORT BELVOIR, Va. - On Aug. 25, DTRA/SCC-WMD celebrated the eighth anniversary of the U.S. Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) Center for Combating Weapons of Mass Destruction (SCC-WMD).
Formally established in August 2005 and declared fully operational in December 2006, SCC-WMD works to integrate and synchronize U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) efforts to combat WMD (CWMD) across the world. The Center advises combatant commands on WMD-related matters, provides critical planning expertise and develops recommendations to reduce vulnerabilities and improve effectiveness.
SCC-WMD – co-located with the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) – works closely with DTRA to support combatant command (COCOM) CWMD efforts. Kenneth A. Myers serves as the director of DTRA and SCC-WMD, functioning as a dual-hatted leader.
“DTRA has always had that special relationship with USSTRATCOM,” said Myers. “USSTRATCOM is the COCOM with the counter WMD mission and we’re the combat support agency of the counter WMD mission. Counter WMD policy, in most cases, starts here at DTRA and for USSTRATCOM, it starts at SCC-WMD.”
The success of the Center in conjunction with DTRA was showcased in 2011 when the U.S. military kicked off two large international missions during the same month – OPERATION TOMODACHI, a humanitarian assistance effort in response to a massive earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan and OPERATION ODYSSEY DAWN, an international military effort to protect the people of Libya from the brutal dictatorship of Moammar Gadhafi. The two concurrent operations presented unique challenges that required the combined expertise and skillsets of SCC-WMD and DTRA.
Maj. Gen. Lucas N. Polakowski, deputy director of SCC-WMD and commander of the Standing Joint Force Headquarters – Elimination (SJFHQ-E), provided accolades on the one team concept, “The One Team, comprised of the SCC-WMD, in conjunction with DTRA and now SJFHQ-E, continues to grow, providing the needed CWMD Center of Excellence for the combatant commands. We continue to demonstrate this advanced CWMD joint team with our support to exercises and crisis planning. With the recent approval of the re-stationing of the SJFHQ-E to Fort Belvoir, the Department of Defense will be able to further increase the cooperation and teamwork of all three entities working towards supporting Warfighter needs.”