Chief of Chemical and Commandant

U.S. Army Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear School

By Brigadier General Sean Crockett

Article published on: March 1, 2023 in the Annual Issue of the Army Chemical Review

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Brigadier General Sean Crockett

As I near the end of my tour as your 32d Chief of Chemical and Commandant of the U.S. Army Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear School (USACBRNS), Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, I can’t help but reflect on the fact that our Corps and our Army are at a critical point in history. We have ended a 20-year war in Afghanistan, continued to fight the battle against the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19), and watched geopolitical tensions with several of our near-peer competitors come to bear. As I write, our Army has positioned forces overseas while the most extensive European land war since World War II continues to rage between Russia and Ukraine. We are, no doubt, in turbulent times—and it is more important now than ever that the Regiment remain ready and relevant in support of our Nation’s maneuver formations.

Our Fiscal Year 2023 priorities remain people first and modernization. To accomplish our goals, we have developed specific capabilities across the doctrine, organization, training, materiel, leadership and education, personnel, and facilities (DOTMLPF) domains that will ensure survivability and enable freedom of action in large-scale ground combat and multidomain operations against near-peer threats in a complex chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) environment. Modernization objectives will set conditions for mission success for the Army of 2030 and beyond, utilizing our three core functions: assess, protect, and mitigate.

People First

People first efforts include a thorough evaluation of the personnel structure of the Chemical Corps. We need a structure that is optimized for current and future requirements in order to maximize the potential of our Soldiers to meet those demands. We must build on the excellence that exists within our ranks. To those ends, we are continuing to analyze the development of appropriately broad and sufficiently deep expertise. Achieving a balance in breadth and depth will align our Soldier capabilities with modernization objectives spanning the DOTMLPF domains, magnifying their effects. This strategy is intended to build and maintain CBRN defense expertise across our core functions. These structural changes are works in progress, and much is left to do—with many impacts to consider. The discussion that is invited by these proposals is needed. More importantly, these structural changes will guide actions that ensure that the U.S. Army Chemical Regiment can successfully fulfill the needs of the Army now and into the future. Our Regiment will continue refining current proposals and engaging in dialogue with the field to move forward with deliberate and well-developed structural change.

Modernization

Our efforts to modernize CBRN capabilities and formations continue along an irreversible path. Working with our partners across science, technology, and advanced development, we continue to develop prototype capabilities designed to meet the challenges that we expect the Army of 2030 to face in large-scale combat operations. To maximize the employment of these capabilities, we are also assessing our force structure to ensure that we are correctly organized at all levels to support movement and maneuver in multidomain operations.

Conclusion

In closing, as I approach the end of my 24-month tour as the 32d Chief of Chemical and Commandant of USACBRNS, I am honored and humbled to have had this opportunity to serve our Corps and I look forward to our accomplishments in the years ahead. I want to personally thank the members of the Regiment who support our mission day in and day out. Your continued dedication to this formation has allowed us to remain steadfast in our training and support to the maneuver forces over the years. Our training and modernization efforts will ensure that our Corps remains ready and relevant as we transition to Army 2030 and beyond. I am equally confident that our planned trajectory for modernization supports the way in which the Army wishes to modernize, providing the warfighter the capability to ensure success in future CBRN environments. To all of our Dragon Soldiers and their Families, Department of the Army civilians, CBRN enterprise stakeholders, and joint partners around the globe . . . You continue to represent the strongest CBRN counterforce team this Nation has ever seen. Collectively, we will be the decisive edge in support of the future force.

Dragon Soldiers! CBRN Warriors! Elementis, Regamus, Proelium!