As the acting Chief, Environmental Community of Practice (eCoP), Mr. Hirata focuses the community's breadth and depth of tools, techniques, and talents to sustain the environment and to enable our worldwide missions. He also serves as the acting Chief of the Department of Defense Support Team that executes the Formerly Used Defense Sites (FUDS), Defense and State Memorandum of Agreement (DSMOA), and Native American Lands Environmental Mitigation Program (NALEMP) on behalf of the Army and the Department of Defense. Other environmental programs such as Superfund and Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP) are also executed by eCoP team members. He is the advocate for the Southwestern Division (SWD) as the acting Chief of their Regional Integration Team (RIT).

He was previously assigned as the Military Programs Deputy of the SWD RIT and as the Deputy of the Environmental Division within U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). He serves as the Executive Editor of The Corps Environment, a quarterly newsletter.

A retired U.S. Army engineer colonel, Mr. Hirata's last active duty assignment was as the Military Deputy to the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Installations and Environment (DUSD (I&E)) where he served as the senior military advisor to the Deputy Under Secretary in the execution of his duties and responsibilities associated with the oversight and policy guidance for all Department of Defense installations and environmental programs. As the Director of the Army's Environmental Program, he exercised primary Army Staff responsibility for the oversight, direction, and coordination of the Army's environmental program. He also has installation staff experience with assignments that include Fort Belvoir's Director of Public Works and Logistics, the Director of Community Activities and the Director of Public Works at US Army Garrison, Hawaii.

Mr. Hirata is a 1977 graduate of the United States Military Academy where he earned a bachelor of science degree. He received his master of science in civil engineering from the University of Hawaii at Manoa in 1987. He is a licensed Professional Engineer registered in Virginia and Hawaii.