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Program Executive Office, Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives (PEO ACWA)Program Executive Office, Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives (PEO ACWA)Program Executive Office, Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives (PEO ACWA)Program Executive Office, Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives (PEO ACWA)
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      Program Executive Office, Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives (PEO ACWA)


      Mission: Destroy Chemical Weapons Stockpile

      Vision: Chemical Weapons Free by 2023

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      Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant (BGCAPP)

      BGCAPP is safely destroying the chemical weapons stockpile currently in storage at the Blue Grass Army Depot near Richmond, Kentucky.

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      Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant (PCAPP)

      PCAPP is safely destroying the chemical weapons stockpile currently in storage at the U.S. Army Pueblo Chemical Depot in Colorado.

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Colorado Community Serves Dual Military Roles

Published: November 10, 2016 | Category: PCAPP News, People
  • Technicians at the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant pose for a portrait.

    Technicians at the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant pose for a portrait.

  • Fallen Pueblo soldiers of the WWI era have their names etched on this Statute of Liberty memorial plaque found in front of the Pueblo County Courthouse.

    Fallen Pueblo soldiers of the WWI era have their names etched on this Statute of Liberty memorial plaque found in front of the Pueblo County Courthouse.

Thousands of families in Pueblo, Colorado, have supported the U.S. military through their service since World War I, when chemical weapons were first used, and their support continues as the chemical weapons artifacts produced during the Cold War are destroyed here.

“Many people consider World War I to be ancient history,” says Charlene Garcia-Simms, genealogist and special collection librarian, Pueblo City-County Library District. “But Pueblo’s finest men and women had a notable contribution to the Great War and historical elements of this time live on in the Pueblo community today.”

In 1952, the depot began storing chemical weapons. During the Korean War, peak employment was reached with nearly 8,000 civilians working at the depot.

While thousands in the Pueblo community have supported the military by protecting, and now by destroying the stockpile, others have directly served in combat.

In 1917, Pueblo’s first round of WWI draftees was identified, according to The Pueblo Chieftain. High school boys prepared for service with practical training in different fields of engineering.

By the end of the war, 3,000 local men served, according to Over There: Pueblo, Colorado Deaths in World War One, written by local historian Michael P. Thomason.

Today, the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant is destroying chemical munitions containing more than 2,600 tons of mustard agent. More than 1,300 trained technicians work at the highly-automated pilot plant, located on the grounds of the U.S. Army Pueblo Chemical Depot.

Generations of Puebloans have worked at the depot, keeping the chemical stockpile safe and now working to destroy the obsolete weapons, bringing a chapter in history to a close.

More PCAPP People Articles

  • Mark Honnen, an Air Force veteran and deputy chief of staff to Colorado Lt. Gov. Dianne Primavera, is the newest member of the Colorado Chemical Demilitarization Citizens' Advisory Commission.

    Colorado Governor Appoints New Advisory Commission Member

    Published: April 8, 2021
  • Toxic Material Handlers from the Pueblo Chemical Depot load a pallet of munitions onto a Modified Ammunition Vehicle, or MAV.

    Toxic Material Handlers Keep Up with Demand

    Published: April 6, 2021
  • Colorado Congress Members Tour Pueblo Plant

    Colorado Congress Members Tour Pueblo Plant

    Published: February 12, 2021
  • Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant Automation Specialist Wendell Savage teaches the Training Facility robot about the new Drained Munition Weight Station. Later, the lessons were applied to the plant’s Munitions Washout System.

    Pueblo Plant Worker Instrumental in Campaign Success

    Published: February 2, 2021
  • From left, Ken Harrawood, project manager, Bechtel Pueblo Team, Walton Levi, site project manager, Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant, and Col. Michael Cobb, military commander, Pueblo Chemical Depot, give the Pueblo City Council a briefing Oct. 15, 2019, on the status of the destruction of the stockpile of mustard agent-filled munitions.

    Plant, Depot Officials Keep Local Governments Briefed on Stockpile

    Published: November 20, 2019
  • Walton Levi, who has been serving as acting site project manager, will fill the position on a permanent basis.

    Acting Site Project Manager at Pueblo Plant Named to Permanent Post

    Published: July 2, 2019
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Other Recent PCAPP News

  • Toxic Material Handlers Keep Up with Demand

    Toxic Material Handlers Keep Up with Demand

    April 6, 2021
  • Attention to Detail Prevents System Clogs

    Attention to Detail Prevents System Clogs

    March 23, 2021
  • Innovative Solution Reduces Problematic Munitions

    Innovative Solution Reduces Problematic Munitions

    March 4, 2021
  • Pueblo Plant Upgrades Closed-Circuit Camera System

    Pueblo Plant Upgrades Closed-Circuit Camera System

    February 10, 2021
  • Pueblo Plant Worker Instrumental in Campaign Success

    Pueblo Plant Worker Instrumental in Campaign Success

    February 2, 2021
  • Strict Protocols Keep Pueblo Plant Safe

    Strict Protocols Keep Pueblo Plant Safe

    January 20, 2021
  • Static Detonation Chamber Units Begin Testing

    Static Detonation Chamber Units Begin Testing

    December 22, 2020
  • Plants Operate with Pandemic Precautions in Place

    Plants Operate with Pandemic Precautions in Place

    December 17, 2020

PCAPP People Videos

  • Pueblo Plant Engineers Bring Science to Life for Students

    Pueblo Plant Engineers Bring Science to Life for Students

    June 10, 2014
  • Pueblo, Colorado – Home of Heroes

    Pueblo, Colorado – Home of Heroes

    August 13, 2013

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Program Executive Office, Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives (PEO ACWA)