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2024 Defender of Liberty_Retired Col. Raymond Van Pelt

20th CBRNE Command

Feb. 19, 2025 | 12:06

The 20th Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, Explosives (CBRNE) Command selected Retired Col. Raymond Van Pelt, a U.S. Army Chemical Corps officer, as the 2024 Defender of Liberty.

The Defender of Liberty award, established in 2019, is given annually to leaders who have made a significant impact on the command.

Retired Vice Chief of Staff of the Army Gen. Richard Cody was the first recipient of the award in 2019 for authoring the memo that led to the creation of the 20th CBRNE Command while serving as the deputy chief of staff of the Army for operations and plans.

Retired Maj. Gen. John C. Doesburg was the 2020 Defender of Liberty and the 2021 Defender of Liberty was retired Maj. Gen. Keith R. Wendel. Retired Lt. Gen. Leslie C. Smith was the 2022 Defender of Liberty. Command Sgt. Maj. Kenneth Graham, the command’s fifth senior enlisted leader, was the 2023 Defender of Liberty.

Brig. Gen. W Bochat, the commanding general of the 20th CBRNE Command, presented the award to Van Pelt at a ceremony in Belcamp, Maryland, Feb. 12.

Van Pelt was one of the principal architects behind the establishment of the 20th CBRNE Command and Joint Task Force Weapons of Mass Destruction-Elimination.

Van Pelt served in the Army for 30 years before spending another eight years as an Army civilian at the 20th CBRNE Command.

Van Pelt currently serves as a deacon at the Saint Joan of Arc Catholic Church in Aberdeen, Maryland.