The Force Behind the Work: Telling the Story of Blue Grass Chemical Activity- David M.

Photo By MATTHEW SHARMAN | In this commemorative series, the stories of the Blue Grass Chemical Activity work force are highlighted with personal accounts, reflections, and experiences with the sunsetting organization and its contribution to destroying the chemical weapons stockpile. This article is with David M., the Safety Management Director, who has spent over a decade with BGCA. His unique view of BGCA comes from being both active-duty military and a current civilian federal employee for BGCA.  

RICHMOND, KENTUCKY, UNITED STATES

08.30.2023

Story by MATTHEW SHARMAN 

Army Chemical Materials Activity

In this commemorative series, the stories of the Blue Grass Chemical Activity work force are highlighted with personal accounts, reflections, and experiences with the sunsetting organization and its contribution to destroying the chemical weapons stockpile. This article is with David M., the Safety Management Director, who has spent over a decade with BGCA. His unique view of BGCA comes from being both active-duty military and a current civilian federal employee for BGCA.

The Blue Grass Chemical Activity supported delivery of chemical munitions to Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant for destruction and was also responsible for the safe and secure storage of the chemical weapons stockpile at Blue Grass Army Depot. BGCAPP destroyed the last chemical weapon in storage at BGCA on July 7, 2023. On August 9, 2023, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons verified that no chemical munitions remain in storage at BGCA.

Name: David M.
Duty Title: Safety Management Director
Time at BGCA: 11 years total

Job Duties: I make sure we keep people safe, stay on top of programs, engage employees, and enforce requirements to keep our workforce healthy and efficient. Building a safety culture happens through engaging people, building relationships, earning trust, being a person of your word, and following through. My safety philosophy is responsibility, accountability, and a willingness to stop. I want that to apply to everybody here. If everyone is accountable for what they do every day and you do it safely, then you keep your brother and sister that you work next to safe. If something's not right, then stop; go ask somebody to help you- there will never be retaliation for doing the right thing.

Experience with Chemical Weapons: I was in an advisory role as the Senior Noncommissioned Officer from 2008-2011. At that time the organization was very small, we had folks who were solely focused on stockpile storage. As a safety subject matter expert, I assisted with storage-related safety concerns and helped develop the training plan, safety program documents, and things like that from the ground up. My first time working in the chemical demilitarization program was 29 years ago in 1994 when I was assigned to Johnston Atoll in the remote Pacific. I went on to do other things in the Army and then I got a call years later and they said they needed somebody with some chemical experience at Blue Grass, at the time I was on assignment to Korea. I had a decision to make, and I chose Kentucky.

View of BGCA’s Mission: I love the mission, and I love the job. My view is so much different than when I looked at my mission and the Army’s mission solely as a warfighter. When I learned more and more about the chemical mission and complying with international treaties, I realized there is a whole other world out there. It's very significant, but as a traditional soldier you don't hear about it, you don't think about it, you don't even really see it. However, when you start looking at the treaty implications, you know that it's a big deal and as we move toward the end of the mission, this means completing something notable. Accomplishing something of this magnitude is important, not just at the Army level but at the State Department level and globally. It is great to see what part you play in the overall mission accomplishment as we solve this big world problem.

Greatest Accomplishment at BGCA: In June 2022 BGCA was recognized as the first Army Materiel Command organization to achieve Army Safety and Occupational Health Management System Star status. Although everyone thought we achieved this incredible designation so fast, it really started in 2012 by building a culture, putting the program documents in place, and ensuring we had a good foundation for the requirements. We started in 2012 working towards OSHA Voluntary Protection Program Star designation. We began to build an employee-based safety program, which is a lot different than compliance-based culture. Between the employee safety committee, having a good workforce, and leadership, we had the perfect ingredients to secure this designation. Our leaders, directors, commanders, and deputy commanders all bought into it from the jump and they saw the importance of a robust safety program and how it engaged employees and kept us all safe.

Amazing Anecdote: I started THIS most recent time working here in 2020, but I initially came here in 2008 as the Noncommissioned Officer in Charge for BGCA. I retired from the Army in 2011 and started working in the safety office, so I worked in the BGCA safety office from 2011 to 2016. From 2016 to 2020 I worked with PEO ACWA as a safety manager for their project. I came back to BGCA in 2020 for the last time.
Plans for the Future: I'm eligible to retire very soon, but I'll probably stay to the end and there may be some follow-on prospects. I am open to opportunities; I have even thought about becoming a professor at Eastern Kentucky University or I may just continue civil service. At the end of the day, I am just waiting to see what is available and what is the best thing for me when BGCA is no more.

Favorite Memory at BGCA: I was retiring from active duty at BGCA and then coming back as a civilian, but I remember I “went out with a bang”. At my retirement ceremony, one of my sons had these balloons and accidentally let go of them and the balloons floated up into this electricity transformer and knocked out power to the building!

Favorite Part of Working at BGCA: The people. I appreciate the people here and I like solving problems. When you're working in this type of environment you have to be flexible, you have to be willing to solve problems, and you have to work with all kinds of people. I enjoy these aspects of working here.

Final Thoughts: Since I came to Richmond, I've seen the city really grow. When you come to a place on a new assignment you wonder what it is going to be like. What’s the area like? and for me; what is my job going to be like? Before coming here, I had only done traditional Army duties, so chemical was a little bit foreign to me, as was Kentucky. What I was pleasantly surprised about is that this area and base is a family-oriented community. It's a great place to live and I've met some great people and made some great friends. I was amazed at how Richmond is one of those places where you can walk to the grocery store and run into the mayor or some other elected official and sit down and have a 45-minute conversation. Everyone is friendly and accessible; they're just like regular people. I am really happy I chose to come to Blue Grass and see this side of the country, as well as this side of the Army.

• Date Taken: 08.30.2023
• Date Posted: 08.30.2023 08:09
• Story ID: 452423
• Location: RICHMOND, KENTUCKY, US