Photo By Gunnery Sgt. Demetrius Munnerlyn | Navy Vice Admiral Collin Green, deputy commander of U.S. Special Operations Command,...... read more read more
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U.S. Special Operations Command hosted the annual countering weapons of mass destruction senior leader seminar, July 19-20, a four-star forum focused on defining a Department of Defense integrated approach to deter state and non-state actors’ use of weapons of mass destruction.
The Honorable Deborah Rosenblum, assistant secretary of defense for nuclear, chemical and biological defense programs, reinforced the way forward on how to remain focused on implementing CWMD guidance contained in the 2022 National Defense Strategy during the seminar.
“My office has a broad mandate, and we are often at the tip of the spear, but we are ultimately in this together,” said Rosenblum. “We’re working with other like-minded, innovative and solution-oriented partners to make progress against the challenges that were identified. We will only be able to outpace our threats when we embrace innovation and think creatively about the problems.”
With U.S. SOCOM the coordinating authority for the DoD, Navy Vice Admiral Collin Green, deputy commander of U.S. SOCOM, supervises the command’s J10, the CWMD directorate, to pull together DoD, U.S. interagency and international partners to address challenges or threats on behalf of the commander for U.S. SOCOM.
“I liken our responsibility to the ‘canary in a coal mine’ who warns the miners when it detects odorless carbon monoxide buildup in the mines,” said Green. “We provide Department leadership advanced warning of increased risk to the force and mission from threats posed by weapons of mass destruction.”
During the seminar, leaders from combatant commands, U.S. government agencies and the CWMD community at large, planned, assessed and provided recommendations for various CWMD efforts and problems.
“The CWMD SLS fosters collaboration, dialogue and senior leader situational awareness across the spectrum of WMD transregional challenges and threats impacting combatant commands,” said Army Lt. Col. Chad Baker, the J10 mission integration branch chief with U.S. SOCOM. “This year’s CWMD SLS was unique because it was the first year the event focused on two threat actors as well as two CCMD’s areas of responsibility.”
Additionally, this year’s seminar integrated the Five Eyes, an intelligence alliance between Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States.
“Bringing our FVEY partners into the planning process, early, gave us a better appreciation of their current CWMD capabilities, efforts and priorities,” said Baker. “This enabled the planning team to develop vignettes and discussion topics that highlighted critical capacity and capability gaps across the DoD, interagency and our FVEY partners.”
Past senior leadership seminars and engagements drove development for corrective action plans, favorable resourcing decisions, revised strategic guidance and increased integration among the IA, allies and international partners; however, this year yielded a different outcome.
“We are at a transition point for the CWMD community and it’s our role as the ‘canary’ to call attention to the risks,” said Green. “We need to hold ourselves accountable to guidance and direction and follow through on necessary corrective actions and proactive approaches to address the threat.”
| Date Taken: | 08.09.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 08.09.2023 08:22 |
| Story ID: | 450999 |
| Location: | MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE, FLORIDA, US |
| Web Views: | 1,388 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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US Special Operations Command (USSOCOM)
