Published: July 17, 2008 08:58 am      

Chemical activity gets new commander

Lt. Col. David L. Musgrave, who assumed command of the Blue Grass Army Depot’s chemical activity Wednesday, is no stranger to Kentucky or the depot.

Musgrave previously visited the local depot as a mission commander with the Defense Threat Reduction Agency’s inspection directorate, and helped plan consolidation of the depot’s chemical weapons stockpile.

The Brownsville, Tenn., native has served as a brigade chemical officer at Fort Knox, where he also has commanded a training company.

Command of the stockpile was transferred from Lt. Col. Tom Closs in an afternoon ceremony. Depot commands typically run for two years.

“My goal is to continue the safe and secure storage of the stockpile and to prepare for the final destruction of the weapons by the Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternative program,” Musgrave said. “We will keep the local community safe as ACWA prepares for the final destruction of the weapons.”

The chemical activity has a work force that is “professional enough to ensure that no chemical weapons escape into the atmosphere,” he said. “We will continue to maintain a transparent operation and keep the local community informed of what is going on here.”

The new commander, his wife Anita and daughter Diondra, moved here about two weeks ago.

The Musgraves’ son, David Q. Musgrave, is an Army first lieutenant.

“In my 23 years with the military, moving from location to location, we have never been so warmly received as we have by the Madison County community,” Musgrave said. From the depot to local government and the neighborhood where they live, “People here have opened their arms to us and made us feel welcomed.”

Diondra Musgrave will be enrolling next month as a freshman at Eastern Kentucky University.

Colonel Musgrave received a bachelor’s degree from Middle Tennessee State University, once an Ohio Valley rival to EKU.

Because his daughter will be an EKU student, the new commander said he will be cheering for the Colonels when he attends sporting events, something he looks forward to.

Musgrave also earned a master’s degree from the Naval War College and served an internship with the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff nuclear and counter proliferation directorate.

In one of his more recent assignments, Musgrave was senior military assistant to the director of the Army’s Strategic Command Center for Combating Weapons of Mass Destruction.

His long list of achievement also includes deployment to Kuwait and Iraq in support of operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom.

Among Musgrave’s numerous awards are a Bronze Star, Meritorious Service Medal with three oak leaf clusters and the Defense Superior Service Medal.

Bill Robinson can be reached at brobinson@richmondregister.com or at 623-1669, Ext. 267.