Cape Girardeau native installed as commander of Newport Chemical Depot

Lt. Col. Brian M. Lynch, a Cape Girardeau native, was recently installed as the commander of the Newport Chemical Depot facility south of Newport, Ind. Prior to the change of command he was chief of the Chemical Surety Division at the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command in Fort Monroe, Va.

The depot was a former production facility for TNT and chemicals used in warfare. The depot stores and is safely destroying a stockpile of chemical agent VX, a deadly nerve gas. Lynch will be in charge of the safe disposal of the gas in accordance with the international treaty.

Lynch's mother; brother, Terry Lynch, and wife, Betty, all of Cape Girardeau, attended his installation.

Lynch is a 1982 graduate of Notre Dame High School. He is the son of Germain and the late Calvin Lynch. Lynch is married to the former Bonnie Gronowski, a former Cape Girardeau resident. They have two sons, Justin and Derek, and all reside in Indiana.

He holds a master's degree in administration from Central Michigan University and a bachelor's degree in criminal justice from Southeast Missouri State University. Lynch is also a a graduate of the Chemical Officer basic and advanced courses and of the Command and General Staff College (The War College).

He is a veteran of Operations Desert Storm and Iraqi Freedom. Among his awards are the Bronze Star, Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, several campaign and expeditionary medals, the Combat Action Badge and Airborne and Air Assault Badges.

cpagano@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 133