Assisting the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

The Search for Missing DoD Personnel

Area of Research

Force Readiness

Research Team

Defense/POWMIA Accounting Agency

Location

Reken
Germany

HJF teams with the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency to account for missing Department of Defense (DoD) personnel

When the DPAA needed expert operational support of their efforts to locate and recover the remains of unaccounted-for DoD personnel from designated past conflicts, they turned to HJF.

Together, the teams work on archeological sites across the globe where missing DoD personnel may be located. HJF assists archeological teams’ terrestrial and underwater activities to recover the remains of U.S. service members.

The vital mission: returning loved ones home to their families.

When HJF joined the effort, more than 82,000 Americans remained missing from World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Cold War, the Gulf Wars and other conflicts. Of those, 75 percent of the losses are in the Indo-Pacific region. More than 41,000 are presumed lost at sea. Though the effort is far from ever ending, HJF and DPAA together are taking the steps to account for our missing DoD personnel to their families and the nation.

DPAA is undergoing work at the following sites:

Cranfield University – Terrestrial recovery, Germany and Italy
Archeological and Historical Conservancy – Terrestrial recovery, Germany
Institute of Maritime History – Underwater survey/investigation, Germany
Flanders Marine Institute – Underwater investigation, Belgium
BentProp – Underwater investigation, Italy
University of Delaware – Underwater Geophysical search/investigation, Kuwait
University of Queensland – Terrestrial investigation, East New Britain, PNG
University of Malta – Underwater Investigation/Recovery, Malta
University of Illinois, Chicago – Terrestrial investigation/recovery, Laos, Vietnam, Philippines, Italy, U.S.
University of Utah – Isoscapes for Human Provenance Supporting the Repatriation of Remains of American Armed Services Members
Ships of Discovery – Underwater Investigation/Recovery, Palau, Guam
East Carolina University – Underwater Investigation/Recovery, Marshall Islands
Florida Gulf Coast University – Terrestrial Recovery, Germany
SeaLark Maritime Institute – Underwater Investigation/Recovery, Solomon Islands
ECU/Task Force Dagger – Underwater Investigation/Recovery, Northern Marianas, Italy, Germany
Croatian Conservation Institute – Underwater Investigation/Recovery, Croatia
University of Maryland – Terrestrial Investigation/Recovery, Austria
Keil University – Underwater Investigation/Recovery, Germany
Archaeological and Historical Conservancy – Terrestrial Investigation/Recovery, Germany
UNO – Terrestrial Investigation/Recovery, Germany
Underwater Archaeology – Underwater Investigation/Recovery, Germany
American Veterans Archaeological Recovery – Terrestrial Investigation/Recovery, United Kingdom
History Flight – Terrestrial Investigation/Recovery, Tarawa
Ohio Valley Archaeology, Inc – Terrestrial Investigation/Recovery, Lithuania
California State University, Chico – Terrestrial Investigation/Recovery, Poland