Welcome
The Secretary of the Army was assigned as the Department of War (DoW)[1] Executive Agent (EA) for the Recovered Chemical Warfare Materiel (RCWM) Program, as established by Department of Defense Directive (DoDD) 5101.17E (11 May 2016; Change 3 effective 9 May 2022) titled Roles and Responsibilities Associated with the Recovery of Chemical Warfare Material.
The Secretary of the Army, in turn, delegated these EA responsibilities to the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Installations, Energy, and Environment (ASA(IE&E)). The Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Environment, Safety and Occupational Health (DASA(ESOH)) fulfils these responsibilities on the ASA(IE&E)’s behalf.
The RCWM Program maintains a critical DoW capability (i.e., the RCWM Program Support Functions), while providing a wide range of support to the Defense Environmental Restoration Program as DoW seeks to address locations known or suspected to contain munitions and certain materials of interest or RCWM.
The RCWM Program also supports explosives or munitions emergency responses when a munition and certain materials of interest is encountered in the public domain, as determined by the responding military Explosive Ordnance Disposal unit.
Additionally, on a cost-reimbursable basis, the RCWM Program Support Functions are provided to other DoW Programs, and, subject to approval by the Under Secretary of War for Policy, support the Department of State, the Combatant Commands, other federal, state, and tribal government agencies and other nations.
[1] Per Executive Order 14347, the Department of Defense (DoD) is otherwise known as the Department of War (DoW). Refence to DoW on this website constitutes reference to both DoW and DoD for purposes of the authority to act in accordance with the EO and established legislation.