--- title: "Obit - Patrick Becker, Deputy Director of the Global Threat Reduction Directorate, DTRA" description: "CBRNe World provides those tasked with defending against CBRN and IED threats with the essential practical, scientific and political information. Access the current and previous issues of the magazine by registering as a member." url: "https://cbrneworld.com/news/obit-patrick-becker-deputy-director-of-the-global-threat-reduction-directorate-dtra" date: "2026-07-30T21:13:04+00:00" language: "en-GB" --- # Obit - Patrick Becker, Deputy Director of the Global Threat Reduction Directorate, DTRA [Gwyn Winfield](#) Author 01 April 2026 Commander Patrick Allen Becker, US Navy (Ret.), of Lorton, VA, was born in Homestead, Florida in 1971 and moved to the Dallas, Texas area in 1973. He graduated from Texas A&M in 1993 with a degree in physics and married his true love and high school sweetheart, Kathryn Ward, a week later. Patrick was selected for the US Navy Nuclear Officer Program in 1991, and earned his commission in 1994. He served in the US Navy for 24 years, to include submarine service on the USS Wyoming, USS Boise, and the USS Helena. He retired in 2015 after 24 years of service. A life-long learner, Patrick also earned his Master of Arts in Economics from University of Oklahoma in 2000, a Master of Science in National Resource Strategy from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces at National Defense University in 2012, and was selected and attended the Harvard Kennedy School’s Senior Executive Fellows (SEF) Program. After retiring from the Navy, he joined the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) at Ft Belvoir, Virginia and continued his service to the public through various nonproliferation efforts around the world. He most recently served as Deputy Director of the Global Threat Reduction Directorate. Over his long working life, Patrick and his family lived up and down the east coast, as well as San Diego, California, Naples, Italy, Singapore, and the Washington DC area. He and Kathryn recently built their forever home in Texas on a lake near Corsicana where they planned to retire soon to be near family. For a man with such a serious focus in his work he was so joyful in his off hours. He was a fiercely intelligent, kind, and generous person, “the very definition of a good guy” as numerous friends have said in recent days. He loved his life and enjoyed exploring the outdoors, stargazing, camping, board games, and online games with his family and many dear friends. Patrick’s beloved family was his life and his soul. He is survived by his wife Kathryn (née Ward), and their children Michael and Emily, and her wife Kaylee Moseley, his father Jeff Becker, his father-in-law Richard Ward and stepmother-in-law Judy Conroy, and the wider Becker and Ward families. He was preceded in death by his mother, Vicki Becker, and his mother-in-law Beth Ward. Many will love and miss him more than words can say, and are all forever proud of him, a new star has joined the ones at night that are big and bright. Fair winds and following seas, Patrick. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to The Nature Conservancy, ## Schema ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "News", "item": "https://cbrneworld.com/news" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Obit - Patrick Becker, Deputy Director of the Global Threat Reduction Directorate, DTRA", "item": "https://cbrneworld.com/news/obit-patrick-becker-deputy-director-of-the-global-threat-reduction-directorate-dtra" } ] } ``` ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "NewsArticle", "mainEntityOfPage": { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://cbrneworld.com/news/obit-patrick-becker-deputy-director-of-the-global-threat-reduction-directorate-dtra" }, "headline": "Obit - Patrick Becker, Deputy Director of the Global Threat Reduction Directorate, DTRA", "description": "Commander Patrick Allen Becker, US Navy (Ret.), of Lorton, VA, was born in Homestead, Florida in 1971 and moved to the Dallas, Texas area in 1973. He graduated from Texas A&M in 1993 with a degree in physics and married his true love and high school sweetheart, Kathryn Ward, a week later. Patrick was selected for the US Navy Nuclear Officer Program in 1991, and earned his commission in 1994.  He served in the US Navy for 24 years, to include submarine service on the USS Wyoming, USS Boise, and the USS Helena. He retired in 2015 after 24 years of service. A life-long learner, Patrick also earned his Master of Arts in Economics from University of Oklahoma in 2000, a Master of Science in National Resource Strategy from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces at National Defense University in 2012, and was selected and attended the Harvard Kennedy School’s Senior Executive Fellows (SEF) Program. After retiring from the Navy, he joined the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) at Ft Belvoir, Virginia and continued his service to the public through various nonproliferation efforts around the world.  He most recently served as Deputy Director of the Global Threat Reduction Directorate.   Over his long working life, Patrick and his family lived up and down the east coast, as well as San Diego, California, Naples, Italy, Singapore, and the Washington DC area. He and Kathryn recently built their forever home in Texas on a lake near Corsicana where they planned to retire soon to be near family.   For a man with such a serious focus in his work he was so joyful in his off hours. He was a fiercely intelligent, kind, and generous person, “the very definition of a good guy” as numerous friends have said in recent days. He loved his life and enjoyed exploring the outdoors, stargazing, camping, board games, and online games with his family and many dear friends.   Patrick’s beloved family was his life and his soul. He is survived by his wife Kathryn (née Ward), and their children Michael and Emily, and her wife Kaylee Moseley, his father Jeff Becker, his father-in-law Richard Ward and stepmother-in-law Judy Conroy, and the wider Becker and Ward families.  He was preceded in death by his mother, Vicki Becker, and his mother-in-law Beth Ward.  Many will love and miss him more than words can say, and are all forever proud of him, a new star has joined the ones at night that are big and bright. Fair winds and following seas, Patrick. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to The Nature Conservancy, https://www.nature.org/en-us/membership-and-giving/donate-to-our-mission/other-ways-to-give/honor-and-tribute-giving/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://cbrneworld.com/" }, "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "CBRNe World Magazine", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://cbrneworld.com/images/default/Asset%201.png" } }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Gwyn Winfield", "url": "https://cbrneworld.com/news/obit-patrick-becker-deputy-director-of-the-global-threat-reduction-directorate-dtra" }, "datePublished": "2026-04-01T09:18:10+01:00", "dateCreated": "2026-04-01T09:18:10+01:00", "dateModified": "2026-04-01T09:18:10+01:00" } ```