Weapons of Mass Destruction Training and Education
Caption: Students at the Defense Nuclear Weapons School (DNWS) at Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M. participate in a consequence management exercise. DNWS offers classes to prepare personnel to respond to weapons of mass destruction. (DTRA photo)
Defense Threat Reduction University (DTRU)
With its wealth of expertise and resources, DTRA stands as the Department of Defense's (DOD) leader in weapons of mass destruction (WMD)-related education and training. Through the Defense Threat Reduction University (DTRU), DTRA prepares those in the military, federal government and others to face these threats by providing a unique multi-disciplinary curriculum focusing on various aspects of countering WMD.
The DTRU, located at Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M., is DTRA’s flagship training institution. It is composed of three branches: the Defense Nuclear Weapons School (DNWS), the Defense Threat Reduction Information Analysis Center (DTRIAC), and Publications and Strategic Studies.
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Defense Nuclear Weapons School (DNWS)
The DNWS, which traces its history back to the Manhattan Project, is a unique entity that provides education and training in radiological and nuclear weapons, nuclear and radiological incident command and control, incident response, and chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) modeling for DoD and other federal, state, and local agencies. It offers courses in four instructional modes (in-residence, distance learning, mobile training team, and outreach modules), provides professional certification regimens in WMD-related disciplines, and is partnered with colleges and universities to offer undergraduate-level college credit for many of its courses as well as Joint Professional Military Education (JPME) credit on some courses.
The DTRU currently shares the same registrar’s office with the DNWS.*
* Note: Access to the DNWS website is only available from computers on a .mil or .gov domain. First-time visitors will receive a pop-up notice which advises them that their browser does not recognize the sender of the security certificate.
For more information on the DNWS, course information, or registering for a course, please contact the DNWS at (505) 846-5666 or via email at dnws@dtra.mil .
Defense Threat Reduction Information Analysis Center (DTRIAC)
The DTRIAC is the key Department of Defense source of information and analysis on nuclear and conventional weapons-related topics. Sponsored by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, DTRIAC has major reference collections of documents, photographic data, and films and can search, retrieve and perform analyses on DTRA-internal and community-wide nuclear/conventional weapons phenomena, effects and technology matters and related nuclear/conventional technology transfer applications.
DTRIAC services are available to U.S. organizations having a need-to-know, certified by a government contract sponsor and registered with Defense Logistics Information Services to receive export-controlled data.
For more information on accessing DTRIAC or visiting DTRIAC’s facilities, please contact DTRIAC at (505) 853-0854 or email dtriac@dtra.mil
Publications and Strategic Studies
This branch fulfills DTRA’s responsibilities as a Combat Support Agency through the development and publication of the annual Joint Training Plan, review of the 82 DOD Joint Publications and implementing Joint Lessons Learned Program. It also publishes the semi-annual on-line DTRU Journal.
The mission of the DTRU Journal is to provide a peer-reviewed forum for scientific research and analysis, which fosters an overarching understanding for the present and emerging threat, provides visibility for innovative approaches to threat reduction, and offer professional discussions of topics relating to weapons of mass destruction (WMD), with particular attention to matters relating to nuclear and radiological weapons.
The DTRU Journal integrates the vast reference archives from DTRIAC with the training and education functions of the DNWS.
For more information in submitting articles for the DTRU Journal, email dtrujournal@dtra.mil or call (505) 846-8673.