Kenneth A. Myers III was the fourth and longest serving director of the [Defense Threat Reduction Agency] (DTRA), from September 2009 to March 2016.^[1] DTRA is the intellectual, technical and operational leader for the Department of Defense(DoD) and the U.S. Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) in the national effort to combat the weapons of mass destruction(WMD) threat. Myers is also dual-hatted as the director of the USSTRATCOM Center for Combating Weapons of Mass Destruction. The center integrates and synchronizes DoD-wide efforts in support of the combating WMD mission.

Professional career

Starting in 1994, Myers was a senior associate at the law firm of Robinson Lake Sawyer Miller in Washington, D.C. He specialized in U.S. public and private sector investments to states of the former Soviet Union and was responsible for establishing the firm's office in Kyiv, Ukraine. Following his time in Kyiv, Myers accepted a position in the office of U.S. Senator [Richard Green Lugar (born 1932)], where he served as a legislative assistant for National Security and Foreign Affairs. He assisted the senator in his role as a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, the Senate's National Security Working Group and Russia Working Group.

He joined the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations as a Senior Professional Staff Member in 2003 when Lugar became Chairman of the Committee. He served as the senior advisor to Lugar on European, former Soviet Union and Central Asian affairs.

Myers worked extensively on issues of nonproliferation, counter-proliferation, arms control, and arms sales. He played a vital role in the development of the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction Program and the Lugar-Obama Cooperative Proliferation Detection, Interdiction Assistance, and Conventional Threat Reduction Act of 2006. Myers frequently traveled throughout Europe, Central Asia and Russia with Lugar, members of the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, and then-Senator Barack Obama to champion the causes of the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction Program.

Additionally, Myers played a leading role in numerous critical foreign policy debates as Senator [Richard Green Lugar (born 1932)]'s point person on the enlargement of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the Moscow Treaty (the Treaty Between the United States of America and the Russian Federation on Strategic Offensive Reductions, or SORT), and the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START), U.S. nonproliferation and counter-proliferation policies, export controls and the U.S.-India Peaceful Atomic Energy Cooperation Act.

Selected for DTRA

Myers was selected as the director of the [Defense Threat Reduction Agency] in the summer or 2009, was sworn in July 27, 2009, at The Pentagon, and had an official Assumption of Responsibility Ceremony on September 1, 2009, at DTRA's headquarters on Fort Belvoir, Virginia. He leads an organization with approximately 2,000 civilian and military personnel at more than 14 locations around the world, including Russia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Georgia, and Ukraine.

Education

Myers has a bachelor's degree from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University; he earned a Master of International Security degree from the Catholic University of America, where he concentrated on the break-up of the former Soviet Union.

References

• ^ "The Defense Threat Reduction Agency and United States Strategic Command Center for Combating Weapons of Mass Destruction Leadership Changing Hands" (PDF). www.dtra.mil. Retrieved 8 March 2016.

• Defense Threat Reduction Agency Biographies [1]^{[permanent dead link]}
• United States Strategic Command Biographies [2]

Ken Myers, a member of the Senior Executive Service, is the Director of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) and the U.S. Strategic Command Center for Combating Weapons of Mass Destruction (SCC), located at Fort Belvoir, Va. Mr. Myers is the fourth and longest serving Director of DTRA/SCC having assumed responsibilities on July 27, 2009.

DTRA/SCC manages a $3 billion budget and operates simultaneously as a defense agency, combat support agency, and a Combatant Command component that safeguards America and its allies from weapons of mass destruction (WMD). With offices in 13 countries, DTRA/SCC is charged with providing the Services and Combatant Commands with expertise and capabilities to deter, defeat, eliminate, and prevent proliferation through 24/7 operations and programs in over 100 international locations daily. DTRA/SCC implements a research and development portfolio focused on elimination, defense, and detection of WMD and deeply buried targets. Mr. Myers has expanded DTRA/SCC operations to Africa, SE Asia, and the Middle East as well as increased international R&D cooperation, and transformed the Agency/Center into a "whole of government" resource. Under Mr. Myers leadership, DTRA/SCC has been awarded with two Joint Meritorious Unit Awards.

Recently the Standing Joint Force Headquarters for Elimination (SJFHQ-E) joined DTRA/SCC at Fort Belvoir. Together, they have formed a cohesive team with the goal of "making the world safer."

Prior to arriving at DTRA, Mr. Myers served from 2003 to 2009 as a senior professional staff member on the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. He also served as the senior advisor to Sen. Dick Lugar, the committee's ranking minority member, on European, former Soviet Union and Central Asian affairs, and the Caucasus, as well as for arms control, arms sales, and combating weapons of mass destruction (CWMD) matters. Mr. Myers assisted Sen. Lugar on the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) program, the U.S./Russian relationship, arms control, security and confidence building measures, and NATO and European Union issues. He had a leading role in several critical foreign policy debates including NATO enlargement, the Moscow and Strategic Arms Reduction treaties, U.S. nonproliferation and counterproliferation policies, export controls, the U.S./India Peaceful Atomic Energy Cooperation Act, and the Lugar-Obama Cooperative Proliferation Detection, Interdiction Assistance, and Conventional Threat Reduction Act. In addition, Mr. Myers was a regular advisor on U.S. policy towards the Middle East, South Asia, and North Korea and was also responsible for reviewing nominees for ambassadorial posts in Europe and the former Soviet Union.

From 1995 to 2002, Mr. Myers served as a legislative assistant for national security and foreign affairs for Sen. Lugar. He assisted the senator in his role as a member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, the Select Committee on Intelligence, and the Senate National Security Working Group and Russia Working Group.

Prior to joining the senator's staff, Mr. Myers was a senior associate at the firm of Robinson Lake Sawyer Miller in Washington, D.C., where he specialized in U.S. public and private sector investments to the successor states to the former Soviet Union and was responsible for establishing that firm's office in Kyiv, Ukraine.

Mr. Myers holds a master's degree from the Catholic University of America and a liberal arts and sciences degree from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

Although the Geneva summit meeting did not produce an agreement providing for the increased emigration of Soviet Jews, the director of the National Conference on Soviet Jewry said today that he was optimistic that discussions of human rights would continue.

''Without the summit, the process for opening up the gates would be a long time away,'' Jerry Goodman, the executive director of the Conference, said. ''The summit helped push it up forward,''

He added, ''We're somewhat disappointed, of course,'' that the Soviet leader, Mikhail S. Gorbachev, did not agree to increase the emigration of Jews. ''But,'' he said, ''we did not anticipate a radical breakthrough.''

The Soviet Government's only move on emigration in recent days was an announcement prior to the summit meeting that it would allow the departure of 10 Russians with American spouses or other ties to the United States.

Beginning of a Dialogue

The summit meeting served as ''only a beginning of a dialogue on a variety of issues,'' Mr. Goodman said in a telephone interview from his New York office. ''Now that the dialogue has begun, the hard bargaining must continue at all levels.'' [The Coalition to Free Soviet Jews, an umbrella organization of 85 groups in the New York metropolitan area, said in a statement, ''We are appreciative of the President's reference to human rights in his address to Congress tonight, and we hope that the fresh start that he spoke of will signify a new start in efforts to gain freedom and human rights for Soviet Jews.''] Mr. Goodman said that his group, which organized nationwide demonstrations on behalf of Soviet Jews before the summit meeting, would continue to press the issue when Congress reviews the cultural accords signed by President Reagan and Mr. Gorbachev.

The accords include people-to-people exhanges involving students, professors, performers and athletes.

Advocates of rights for Soviet Jews will urge Congress to consider in its review of the agreements the plight of several hundred Soviet scientists who have been denied permission to emigrate.

Kenneth A. Myers, a Senate Foreign Relations Committee aide, said it was not clear whether Senate ratification would be required for the accords. The agreements would be reviewed in any event, he said, because the money to implement cultural exchanges must be approved by Congress.