The Program Executive Officer who leads the Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives program marked his retirement during a ceremony April 26 on the Edgewood Area of Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland.
“I am ending a career I never imagined I would have and one in which I never had to worry about being alone,” said Conrad F. Whyne. “The opportunities that I enjoyed kept coming, one after another, culminating in this last job. I hope I have made a difference and contributed to the success of the program.”
“Conrad’s strong and inclusive leadership will continue to make a significant difference in the lives of our Soldiers and our citizens,” said Steffanie Easter, Acting Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology, who officiated the event. “Chemical weapons do not get any safer over time, and that is why the destruction mission is so important.”
“Your leadership has been rock steady and you leave behind steel-toed boots that will be very difficult to fill,” said Deputy Program Executive Officer Joe Novad, during the ceremony. “We will march on, however, because that is what you have taught us to do – always seeking continuous improvement and taking care of our people.”
Whyne was selected to the Senior Executive Service in 2008. He served as the Program Executive Officer for the Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives from Feb. 2012 to May 2017. In this role, he led the program responsible for ensuring the safe design, construction, testing, operation and closure of demilitarization facilities for chemical weapons stockpiles stored at the U.S. Army Pueblo Chemical Depot, Colorado, and the Blue Grass Army Depot, Kentucky. His career spanned 29 years as an Army civilian, and 10 years on active duty in the U.S. Army Chemical Corps and as an acquisition officer.
The program’s site in Colorado, the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant, is operational, and in Kentucky, the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant is in systemization. The alternative technologies at each site are unique and were developed through collaboration with citizens near the stockpile sites.
The organization is administratively assigned to the U.S. Army Acquisition Support Center while reporting directly to the Department of Defense as required by public law. Whyne’s replacement has not yet been announced.
