Colonel Vance M. Brunner

Colonel Vance M. Brunner was raised in Kailua, Hawaii, and enlisted in the Hawaii National Guard in April 1997 as a Ground Surveillance Systems Operator. Upon graduating in 2002 from the University of Hawaii, he received an active duty commission into the Chemical Corps.

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 to110th 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 Joint Base San Antonio Fort Sam Houston, Texas.