The U.S. Army Chemical Materials Agency (CMA) announced Tuesday that on July 1, it achieved the destruction of 75 percent of its chemical agent stockpile as defined under international treaty obligations.

“This accomplishment marks another extraordinary team effort between our storage and destruction staffs consisting of both government and contractor personnel,” CMA Director Conrad Whyne said.

This accomplishment represents destruction efforts since Entry-Into-Force, when the United States ratified the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) treaty in April 1997. Also, 75 percent represents 22,958 tons of agent and more than 2.1 million munitions. CMA reached the 50 percent milestone in December 2007 and the 60 percent destruction mark in April 2009.

While not an official treaty-mandated achievement, 75 percent represents the ongoing progress the United States, under CMA’s leadership, is making in fulfilling its international obligations to destroy the aging and obsolete chemical weapons stockpile. CMA is on pace to meet the April 2012 deadline by destroying the 90 percent of the stockpile under its purview. The U.S. Army Element Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives (ACWA) program is responsible for destroying the remaining 10 percent under the treaty.

“Our highly skilled government and contractor work force deserves a tremendous amount of credit for this achievement,” Whyne said. “We are another step closer to fulfilling one of our missions.”