Chief of Chemical - U.S. Army - Brief Article

CML Army Chemical Review, July, 2000 by Patricia L. Nilo

COL(P) Patricia L. Nilo

Chief of Chemical

What a tremendous amount of change and OPTEMPO we are experiencing in our Army today! Transformation has touched nearly every one of us. However, even if you are not decisively engaged in this major initiative, you are likely consumed with an ambitious training or deployment OPTEMPO. Here at the Chemical School, transformation and OPTEMPO are our daily bread as we strive to support the warfighters in the field. With summer already here and the Worldwide Chemical Conference behind us, the staff of the Chemical School is dividing its time between those issues and the preparation of the Chemical Corps Functional Area Assessment (FAA), scheduled for late this summer.

Years ago, during the Cold War, our units rarely experienced a change of scenery. And, "change of mission" was even more rare. Now, in this era of geopolitical uncertainty and WMD proliferation, nearly every component of our Army is actively participating in worldwide contingency mission rotations. To adapt and execute missions successfully under these conditions, our Cold War threat-based Army needs the change we are undergoing today.

The conversion of the 3d Brigade, 2d Infantry Division, at Fort Lewis from a heavy armored brigade to a lighter, more deployable force is the most visible aspect of Army transformation. It represents the Army's commitment to deliver a sustainable and lethal brigade to the warfight in 96 hours. An NBC reconnaissance platoon, initially equipped with the Fox NBCRS, is part of the embedded NBC defense capability for this force. This platoon received its initial training here at the Chemical School from May through July and reports to Fort Lewis in the next few weeks.

This platoon will be among the first units to receive the Chemical Corps newest NBC reconnaissance platform. Work has already begun on key time-phased improvements for our new NBCRS. These include integrated nuclear, biological, and chemical-agent identification; reach-back via secure SATCOM; and command and control of autonomous sensors on unmanned aerial vehicles, unmanned ground vehicles, and unattended ground sensors. Faced with continued WMD proliferation, the growth of our Corps, and the continued scientific advances in Chemical Corps warfighting technology foreshadow a very bright future with increasing opportunity for all of us.

This summer, at Fort Leonard Wood, we gave you a glimpse into that future during the XVII Annual Worldwide Chemical Conference held the week of 19 through 23 June. The theme of this year's conference was "NBC Defense--Forging the Future." As always, this has been the preeminent chemical and biological conference in the United States. The nearly 100 exhibitors in attendance, who highlighted the newest chemical and biological defensive technologies, reinforced to all of us the level of sophistication and commitment we need to have for an effective NBC defense. The time we spent in the breakout sessions of the Warfighter Conference was indeed well spent and produced solid recommendations to several issues from the tactical to strategic levels.

We will capture those recommendations for the Chemical Corps FAA. Ultimately, the FAA will affirm that the Chemical Corps is on a path to support the Army and that the Army can fully support our vision as it extends through the POM years. Since February, we have been working hard on the ideas and issues you submitted in response to January's FAA survey, and your feedback at the Worldwide Chemical Conference will prove to be vital. We are currently scheduled to present the FAA to the VCSA this September.

As a Corps, we have a lot to look forward to in the coming months and years. The vast majority of you will be part of our active force well into the future. As professionals, I urge each of you to participate in and contribute to both Army and Chemical Corps transformation initiatives. While the unpredictability of the WMD threat assures the need for NBC defense, our ability to remain relevant in that domain depends on your input and ideas that allow us to innovate effective methods to meet the challenges of the future. Let's forge the future of the Chemical Corps together!

Dragon Soldiers!