A New Era in Combating WMD
Abstract
The President's National Strategy to Combat Weapons of Mass Destruction describes such weapons in the hands of hostile states and terrorists as one of the greatest security challenges facing the United States. This strategy reinforces the need for the Department of Defense (DoD) to continue developing an integrated and comprehensive approach to counter the weapons of mass destruction (WMD) threat. As an essential step toward that approach, the Secretary of Defense assigned the commander, U.S. Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM), as the lead combatant commander for integrating and synchronizing DoD efforts in combating WMD. The President further codified responsibilities and authorities assigned to the USSTRATCOM commander in the Unified Command Plan of May 5, 2006. In answer to this assignment, the commander established the USSTRATCOM Center for Combating Weapons of Mass Destruction (SCC-WMD), which is collocated with the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. To support this vital mission further, the Secretary of Defense dual-hatted the director of DTRA as the director of the SCC-WMD. At the strategic level, preventing hostile states and nonstate actors from acquiring or using WMD is one of the four priorities identified in the 2006 Quadrennial Defense Review. Also at the strategic level, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on February 13, 2006, issued the first-ever National Military Strategy to Combat Weapons of Mass Destruction. As defined in the national military strategy, the three pillars are Nonproliferation, Counterproliferation, and Consequence Management. At the next level, the national military strategy identifies eight mission areas that span the pillars in the national strategy: offensive operations, elimination, interdiction, active defense, passive defense, consequence management, security cooperation and partner activities, and threat reduction cooperation.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2007
- Accession Number
- ADA519825
Entities
People
- James A. Tegnelia
Organizations
- Defense Threat Reduction Agency