Product Director Demilitarization welcomes new leader

By Lisa Spinelli, PD JS Operations OfficerJuly 8, 2022

(Photo Credit: Todd Mozes) VIEW ORIGINAL

The Joint Program Executive Office Armaments and Ammunition (JPEO A&A), Product Director Demilitarization (PdD Demil), welcomed a new leader during an in-person/virtual change of charter ceremony at the Lindner Conference Center on July 7. The organization said farewell to Johnny Figueroa as he transferred authority to James Terhune.

PdD Demil specific responsibilities include assisting Headquarters, Department of the Army G-4 and all Military Services with planning, programming and budgeting for resources to accomplish their demilitarization responsibilities while providing the mechanisms and processes to link stakeholders into a single demilitarization enterprise.

The demilitarization office is a multi-service and multi-functional organization committed to meeting its stakeholder’s expectations and requirements for demilitarization of conventional ammunition and missile stockpiles.

The ceremony was officiated by Matthew Zimmerman, Project Director Joint Services, who oversees Product Director Demilitarization.

“During his tenure, Johnny consistently excelled at building coalitions by capitalizing on his "people always” approach,” said Zimmerman. “Johnny is a natural team builder, which is a critical skill in demilitarization given the myriad of stakeholders.”

The ceremony included a symbolic transfer of authority by the passing of the Product Director Demilitarization Charter from Figueroa to Terhune. In the passing of the charter, the outgoing director formally relinquishes the mission and welfare of the workforce and their families to the incoming director.

Figueroa retired from the U.S. Army as a Lieutenant Colonel in 2010. He transitioned to the civilian workforce, where he worked in the operations and project management disciplines.

Figueroa’s next assignment will be attending the Defense Acquisition University’s (DAU) Senior Service College Fellowship (SCCF) Program located at Picatinny Arsenal starting July 2022.

The incoming director, Terhune started his Department of the Army civilian career at Picatinny in 1999 supporting the Product Manager for Mortar Systems.  In the following years, he held numerous civilian positions within the JPEO A&A portfolio. Most recently serving as the Project Lead for the Iowa Army Ammunition Plant, Milan Army Ammunition Plant and Quad City Cartridge Case Facility within the Project Director Joint Services (PD JS) Industrial Base Division. Terhune graduated from DAU’s SSCF in May 2021.

The JPEO A&A and PD JS workforce wishes Figueroa good luck at the DAU’s SCCF and looks forward to continuing to work with Terhune in his new role as the Product Director Demilitarization.