Scientific Operations in the Recovery and Identification of U.S. Military Personnel from Past Global Conflicts

Matthew C. Go

The dignified management of the dead from armed conflicts has been a long-standing priority of the United States government dating back more than a hundred years. The mission of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) is to provide the fullest possible accounting of missing American service members from past conflicts to their families and the nation. This is achieved through worldwide operations in the systematic search, recovery, and laboratory analysis of human remains believed to be American military, including losses across the Indo-Pacific from World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. DPAA’s Central Identification Laboratory (CIL) is charged with ensuring the highest possible scientific standards are achieved with respect to both the recovery and identification of remains. Today, the DPAA-CIL is the largest forensic skeletal identification laboratory in the world, employing multi-disciplinary lines of evidence towards case resolution. These disciplines include anthropology, archaeology, odontology, radiography, DNA and stable isotope analyses, material evidence analysis, and historical research. The goal of this presentation is to showcase the identification process employed by the CIL from field to laboratory, augmented by its efforts in advancing forensic identification science research as well as in quality assurance and standardization. Establishing external partnerships and strengthening diplomatic relations also represent key force multipliers as the DPAA works to recover remains from over two dozen countries and territories in the Indo-Pacific. To date, the DPAA is diligently working to locate and identify more than 60,000 service members who remain unaccounted for in this historically significant region.