commander
COL Vance M. Brunner
Commander, U.S. Army Environmental Command
After completing the Officer Basic Course at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, he was assigned to the 1-319th Field Artillery Regiment at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and served as the Battalion Chemical Officer. In August 2003 he deployed to Iraq in support of OIF where he served as the Battalion Battle Captain. Upon returning in February 2004, he was assigned to the 21st Chemical Company where he served as a Platoon Leader and Executive Officer.
In May 2005, he deployed to Afghanistan in support of OEF, where he served as the detention facility Officer in Charge (OIC) in the province of Khost. After returning from Afghanistan, Col. Brunner attended the Chemical Officer Advanced Course in Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. In May 2006, he was assigned to 110th CBRN Battalion, Fort Lewis, as a Chemical Biological Radiological Nuclear and High Yield Explosive Response Team leader, where he led his team through two National Level Exercises. In December 2008, he was assigned to the 23d CBRN Battalion where he commanded the 62d Chemical Company.
In January 2010, he deployed the company to Kuwait in support of both OIF and OEF. Upon returning in December 2010, Col. Brunner was selected for the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. After graduating, he was assigned as Chief of the Officer Training Department, Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, where he oversaw the warrant, basic and advanced Officer courses.
In June 2014, he was assigned as the Operations and Executive Officer for the 22d CBRN Battalion, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, where he re-stationed the battalion headquarters to their new location in Fort Bliss, Texas. In July 2016, Col. Brunner was assigned to the Counter-Weapons of Mass Destruction Combined Joint Interagency Coordination Group-Korea where he served as the Plans OIC. In June 2019, he returned from Korea and took command of the Headquarters Battalion U.S. Army, the largest battalion in the U.S. Army with command oversight of 8,500 Soldiers in the National Capital Region.
In 2021, he was selected for Senior Service College as a fellow and attended the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, California. Following SSC, he was assigned as the 20th CBRNE Command Operations Officer (G3), Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland.
On June 27, 2024, Col. Brunner assumed command of the U.S. Army Environmental Command at Fort Sam Houston, Texas.
command sergeant major
Command Sgt. Maj. Francisco J. Cardenas Jr.
Command Sergeant Major
Command Sergeant Major Francisco J. Cardenas Jr. is a native of Laredo, Texas and graduated from Excelsior College with a Bachelor of Science Degree. He entered the United States Army in May of 1995 with the Texas Army National Guard and entered Active Duty at Fort Hood, Texas in May of 1998.
CSM Cardenas’ first assignment was CBRN NCO, HHC III Corps, Fort Hood, TX. He then served in a variety of positions including CBRN NCO, B CO 2/9 Infantry Battalion, 2D Infantry Division, Camp Casey, South Korea; BN CBRN NCO, HHC 1/22 Infantry Battalion, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Hood, TX; Squad Leader and Platoon Sergeant, 44th Chemical Company, 2D CM BN, Fort Hood, TX; Senior Instructor Writer and Brigade CBRN NCO, 434th FA BDE, Fort Sill, OK; CBRN Staff NCO, HHC 40th EN BN, Baumholder, Germany; Team Leader and Detachment Sergeant, 26th Chemical Reconnaissance Detachment (CRD), 7TH Special Forces Group (A), Eglin AFB, FL; First Sergeant, 25th CBRNE CO (TE), 22D CM BN, Aberdeen Proving Grounds, MD; First Sergeant, 68th CBRNE CO (TE), 2D CM BN, Fort Hood, TX; CBRN SGM, 2D Infantry Division, Camp Red Cloud, South Korea; CBRN SGM, 3D Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, GA; CBRN SGM, ARCENT, Shaw AFB, SC; CBRN SGM, III CORPS, Fort Hood, TX, and most recently served as the BN Command Sergeant Major for the Fort Stewart Soldier Recovery Unit.
CSM Cardenas has deployed five times in Support of Operation Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom; GTMO Bay Cuba, Iraq, Kuwait, Afghanistan X 2.
CSM Cardenas’ military education includes all corresponding levels of the Noncommissioned Officer Education System. CSM Cardenas is also a graduate of Airborne School, Technical Escort, Special Forces (SF) Sensitive Site Exploitation Enabler (SSE) Course, SF SSE Operator Advanced Course, Small UAV (RAVN) Course, Basic Army Instructor Course and Master Fitness Trainer Course.
CSM Cardenas’ military awards and decorations include: The Meritorious Service Medal with (8x OLC), Army Commendation Medal with (6x OLC), Army Achievement Medal with (3x OLCs), the Army Good Conduct Medal (8x OLC), Afghanistan Campaign Medal (2), Iraqi Campaign Medal (2), Korea Defense Service Medal, National Defense Service Medal (2), Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon (7), the Airborne Parachutist Badge, the German Armed Forces Marksmanship Badge (Schutzenschnur) (Gold), and the German Armed Forces Military Efficiency Badge (Gold).
CSM Cardenas is married to Yaitza Cardenas of Levittown, Puerto Rico.
deputy to the commander
Mr. Joel Godfrey
Deputy to the Commander USAEC
Joel Godfrey currently serves as the Deputy to the Commander at the U.S. Army Environmental Command (USAEC). In this role, Mr. Godfrey provides leadership and oversight to a staff of more than 100 environmental, financial and human resources, legal and public affairs professionals.
Prior to assuming the duties of the Deputy, Mr. Godfrey served as the USAEC Southeast Region Division Chief, overseeing personnel responsible for executing environmental cleanup and environmental quality projects in support of the Army's environmental program in seven states. Mr. Godfrey, who joined the command in 2010, worked within the USAEC Environmental Quality Division as the Program, Planning and Conservation Branch Chief prior to transitioning to the Southeast Division as part of a command reorganization.
Mr. Godfrey graduated from the University of Illinois with a Bachelor of Science in Forestry and from Utah State University with a Master of Science in Forestry, with an emphasis in wildland fire and fuels management.
He began his Army career in 1995 as a contractor supporting the Utah Army National Guard for five years prior to moving to Hawaii to work as part of the Integrated Training Area Management program for U.S. Army Garrison Hawaii. He became a Department of the Army Civilian while in Hawaii in 2002, serving in multiple roles within the USAG-HI Environmental Division to include Conservation Branch Chief and Environmental Division Chief. After seven years in Hawaii, he moved to Texas and worked with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Fort Worth District for three years as the Chief of the Environmental Planning Section before joining the USAEC in San Antonio in 2010.