Last week, the Joint CBRN Center of Excellence was pleased to host Brigadier General James E. Bonner, U.S. Chief of Chemical and Regimental Command Sergeant Major Henney Hodgkins, U.S. Chemical Corps Regimental Command Sergeant Major. Though the U.S. has been a Sponsoring Nation of our COE since 2010, Brigadier General Bonner's visit was the first from a sitting U.S. Chief of Chemical.  Interestingly, BG Bonner was also the first distinguished visitor to be welcomed by our newly appointed Director, Colonel Vratislav Osvald.

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The Directorate and staff provided Brigadier General Bonner with a series of briefings summarizing, among other things, the history of our Centre of Excellence, Sponsoring Nations and Contributing Partner involvement, manning, course offerings, exercise involvement and Reach Back operational capabilities. Additionally, our distinguished visitors were treated to a traditional lunch, followed by a tour of the Rock Cottage live agent training facility, provided by Radomir Mikes.

The affiliation that our Center of Excellence enjoys with all our partners, can only benefit from improved personal and institutional relationships. In either regard, Brigadier General Bonner and Command Sergeant Major Hodgkins' visit represents a very positive step forward and we at the Centre of Excellence look forward to our future partnering with the U.S. Army CBRN School.