Defense Threat Reduction Agency The Defense Threat Reduction Agency ( DTRA ) is an agency within the United States Department of Defense and is the official Combat Support Agency for countering weapons of mass destruction ( chemical , biological , radiological , nuclear , and high explosives ) . DTRA ' s main functions are threat reduction , threat control , combat support , and technology development . The agency is headquartered in Fort Belvoir , Virginia . DTRA employs 2 , 000 civilian and military personnel at more than 14 locations around the world , including Russia , Kazakhstan , Azerbaijan , Uzbekistan , Georgia , and Ukraine . DTRA was established in 1998 by consolidating several DoD organizations , including the Defense Special Weapons Agency ( successor to the Defense Nuclear Agency ) and the On - Site Inspection Agency as a result of the 1997 Defense Reform Initiative . In 2005 , the Secretary of Defense made the decision to designate the Commander , United States Strategic Command ( USSTRATCOM ) as the lead Combatant Command for the integration and synchronization of DoD ’ s Combating WMD efforts in support of U . S . government objectives . To fill this requirement , the USSTRATCOM Center for Combating Weapons of Mass Destruction was collocated with DTRA . Annual published budgetary figures are $ 346 million ( fiscal year 2008 ) , $ 354 million ( FY 2009 ) , and $ 385 million ( est . for FY 2010 ) . DTRA ' s vision is " to make the world safer by reducing the threat of weapons of mass destruction . " History . After the end of the Cold War , DTRA and its predecessor agencies have implemented the DoD aspects of several treaties that assist former Eastern Bloc countries in the destruction of Soviet era nuclear , biological , and chemical weapons sites ( such as missile silo s and plutonium production facilities ) in an attempt to avert potential weapons proliferation in the post - Soviet era as part of the Nunn - Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction program . DTRA is responsible for US reporting under the New START Treaty and the Intermediate - Range Nuclear Forces Treaty . DTRA is also responsible for reducing the threat of conventional war , especially in Europe , by participating in various arms control treaties to which the United States is a party , such as the Conventional Forces in Europe treaty and the Treaty on Open Skies , as well as the Vienna Document and Global Exchange of Military Information under the auspices of the Organization for Security and Co - operation in Europe . the Transparency in Armaments activity of the United Nations , and the Wassenaar Arrangement . In 2002 , DTRA published a detailed history of its predecessor agencies , " Defense ’ s Nuclear Agency , 1947 – 1997 " , which is in the public domain . The first paragraph of the preface makes the following brief statement about the agencies which led up to the formation of DTRA . " Defense ’ s Nuclear Agency , 1947 – 1997 " , traces the development of the Armed Forces Special Weapons Project ( AFSWP ) , and its descendant government organizations , from its original founding in 1947 to 1997 . After the disestablishment of the Manhattan Engineering District ( MED ) in 1947 , AFSWP was formed to provide military training in nuclear weapons ’ operations . Over the years , its sequential descendant organizations have been the Defense Atomic Support Agency ( DASA ) from 1959 to 1971 , the Defense Nuclear Agency ( DNA ) from 1971 to 1996 , and the Defense Special Weapons Agency ( DSWA ) from 1996 to 1998 . In 1998 , DSWA , the On - Site Inspection Agency , the Defense Technology Security Administration , and selected elements of the Office of Secretary of Defense were combined to form the Defense Threat Reduction Agency ( DTRA ) . On January 26 , 2006 , the director of DTRA was given the extra responsibility of the director of the USSTRATCOM Center for Combating Weapons of Mass Destruction , a subordinate component to the U . S . Strategic Command . DTRA has the responsibility to manage and integrate the Department of Defense chemical and biological defense science and technology programs . In accordance with the Recommendation 174 ( h ) of the 2005 Base Closure and Realignment Commission , the Chemical Biological Defense Research component of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency is to be re - located to Edgewood Chemical Biological Center , Aberdeen Proving Ground , Maryland by September 30 , 2011 . DTRA plans to build space for 15 personnel at Aberdeen Proving Ground . This represents a move of about ten percent of the staff of the Chemical Biological Defense Research component of DTRA to Aberdeen Proving Ground ; the rest of the staff remain at Fort Belvoir . Publications . DTRA sponsors the journal " WMD Insights " , while " The Shield " is the official magazine of the DTRA SCC - WMD , and is printed quarterly .