Stockpile leadership change in the wind

This story was published Sat, Nov 2, 2002

By Karen Zacharias
Herald Oregon bureau

Pentagon officials won't confirm it but outside sources say the nation's chemical weapons destruction program is being handed over next week to a Nebraska native, Maj. Gen. Claude Bolton Jr.

"It's a done deal," one source said. "They are just waiting on the paperwork."

If the rumors prove true, it will mark the second time in the past year the program that is supervising destruction of the chemical weapons at the Umatilla Chemical Depot has undergone a major leadership change.

Mario Fiori was named head of the nationwide munitions storage and disposal program in December 2002. He is assistant secretary of the Army for installations and environment, and Fiori was manager of the Department of Energy's Savannah River site from 1992 to 1997.

Fiori's appointment signified the program was being removed from the direction of the Army's Acquisition, Logistics and Technology Department and passed to the Department of Installations and Environment.

But Bolton serves as the Army's acquisition executive, so this recent move would reflect a shift back.

A Pentagon spokesman representing Fiori declined to comment about the program change. "At this point, there is nothing we can confirm," he said.

Bolton responded to an e-mail inquiry from the Herald by offering to answer any questions on the matter next week.

Fiori's tenure in charge of the weapons program was marred by a public relations gaffe known in some circles as "e-mailgate." In a series of e-mails generated from his office in August, Fiori laid out a plan to ambush county officials who had questioned the community's readiness for the burning of the chemical munitions stored at the depot in Anniston, Ala.

In response, Calhoun County commissioners urged their congressional delegates to confront Fiori on the scheme.

Larry Skelly, an assistant to Fiori's and one of the e-mails' authors, also was reassigned by the Army's contractor, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, after the incident.

Fiori also irked some Umatilla and Morrow county officials during a visit in March, when he suggested they could speed up destruction of mustard gas stored at the Umatilla Chemical Depot by neutralizing rather than burning it.

Trouble also arose for Fiori during his tenure at Savannah River, when he was found guilty of an ethics violation for reportedly helping secure a job for his daughter with plant contractors.

He was reprimanded for the offense.

"If these rumors are true, that Dr. Fiori is being relieved of his oversight responsibilities, it's not the first time that a person in charge of this program had been toppled," said Craig Williams, director of the Kentucky-based Chemical Weapons Working Group.

"This is just a reflection of how chronically mismanaged this program has been."

Bolton is a Vietnam veteran with more than 30 years of active service. He received his commission in 1969 through the University of Nebraska's Air Force ROTC program.

He flew 232 combat missions in Vietnam, including 40 over North Vietnam. He was appointed as assistant secretary of the Army for acquisitions, logistics and technology in January.

 

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