The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) was a foreign organization to me prior to this assignment. The DPAA is an organization responsible for recovering captive American personal, missing, or locating deceased remains. According to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, there are more than 83,000 Americans remain missing from previous wars. These wars consisted of the Vietnam War, the Korean War, the Cold War, and World War II. I found the total number of missing Americans to be an alarming rate and should not go unrecognized. It was interesting to know that the agencies work will never be finished. The search for American remains date back to 1939 during World War II (WWII). It’s intriguing that personal recovery dating back to 1939 (76 years ago) is still in pursuit, until all Americans missing are recovered.
The POW’s mission is not about numbers; it is about the fullest possible accounting of all Americans who are still missing from past conflicts (Site). It was impressive to watch how the recovery mission was carried out in three steps. First JPAC does an analysis of case files and investigation of the suspected site. The investigation is carried out by JPAC familiarizing their selves with the last known whereabouts of the lost American. It is unique that the search is done with the help of U.S. veterans, foreign witnesses, newspapers…show more content… The investigation team is the lead element and surveys the site prior to excavation teams arrival. The investigation team does all the legwork. They are very involved out in the field and uses the surrounding community, to retrieve critical information. In the JPAC command video, I noticed how important potential witness interviewing is for a productive recovery. The team conducts on-site interviews and survey terrain for safety. The purpose of this is to attempt to generate new leads for future