Recovered Chemical Warfare Materiel (RCWM) Program
Program Drivers
- Public Law (PL) 104-208
- PL 105-261
- PL 109-364, Section 314
- DoDD 5101.17E
Program Oversight
In DoD Directive 5101.17E, the Office of the Secretary of Defense designated the Secretary of the Army as the DoD Executive Agent of the Recovered Chemical Warfare Materiel (RCWM) Program. The Secretary of the Army delegated this responsibility to the ASA(IE&E). As the DoD Executive Agent, the ASA(IE&E) is responsible for management and execution of responses to address RCWM across all current and former DoD installations and elsewhere in the public domain within the continental United States.
Program Activities
CWM may be present on active installations, Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) installations, and Formally Used Defense Sites (FUDS). Only in the past two decades (first used in early 2000) has technology become available to determine the contents of munitions with an unknown liquid fill and to conduct safe, environmentally compliant destruction of RCWM.