DPMO/JPAC
After
unflattering reports, Hagel orders shake-up of MIA accounting agencies
WASHINGTON
— In the wake of numerous reports of misconduct and poor management practices
by personnel charged with recovering
and identifying the remains of missing servicemembers from past conflicts,
Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel has ordered the Pentagon to come up with a
plan to consolidate all Defense Department assets into a single, more
accountable entity that will manage all personnel accounting resources,
research and operations.
On
Thursday, Hagel directed Michael Lumpkin, the Under Secretary of Defense for
Policy, to deliver the plan to him within 30 days, Pentagon Press Secretary
Rear Adm. John Kirby told reporters.
In a
memo obtained by Stars and Stripes, Hagel said Lumpkin’s action plan should
propose ways to:
Maximize
the number of identifications.
Improve
transparency for families.
Reduce
duplicative functions.
Establish
a system for centralized, complete, fully accessible personnel case files for
missing personnel.
In the
memo, Hagel suggested he is considering making wide-ranging changes in areas
such as:
Civilian
and military personnel policies.
Contracting
and acquisition policies.
Statutory
and regulatory authorities.
Facilities.
Budgets.
Procedures.
Oversight
of laboratory operations.
“This is
a top priority for the Department,” Hagel said.
The
initiative follows embarrassing revelations and unflattering reports about
Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command and the Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office,
the two agencies with primary responsibility for recovery and identification
efforts.
In July,
the Associated Press reported that a JPAC internal study of its operations
concluded that DOD’s effort to account for the tens of thousands of Americans
missing in action were so incompetent and mismanaged that it risks descending
from “dysfunction to total failure.”
In
December, Stars
and Stripes reported charges that JPAC and DPMO officials ignored
leads, prematurely declared MIAs deceased and unrecoverable and argued against
identifying unknown remains in government custody when evidence suggested they
could be identified.
In
January, Stars
and Stripes obtained internal communications from JPACdocumenting
allegations that JPAC’s Central Identification Laboratory personnel were
involved in the desecration and mishandling of remains, failure to keep
critical records, excavation of incorrect sites, and waste of taxpayer funds on
duplicate efforts.
A
Government Accountability Office audit released in July cited leadership
failures and bureaucratic infighting as problems plaguing Pentagon recovery and
identification efforts.
Kirby
said the JPAC report and other reviews led Hagel to issue his directive.
“The
reviews that we've seen of this mission tell us lots of things. One of them is,
it's not being done as efficiently as possible from an organizational
perspective,” he told reporters.
Hagel
served in combat as an Army infantry squad leader during the Vietnam War. More
than 1,600 Americans involved in that conflict remain unaccounted, according to
DPMO.
“As a
veteran himself, the secretary has an especially personal commitment to
ensuring we account for and bring home as many of our missing and fallen
service personnel as possible,” Kirby said.
Department of Defense Press Briefing by Secretary Hagel in the Pentagon
Briefing Room
Presenter:
Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel
March 31, 2014
SECRETARY
OF DEFENSE CHUCK HAGEL: Many of you know that I'm going to leave tomorrow
morning for a ten-day trip to Asia Pacific. Some of you will be
accompanying me on that trip. And I think you've seen the itinerary of
where we're going. And some of the more important part of that -- of the
trip and the focus starting with ASEAN defense ministers' meeting in Hawaii for
two and a half days and then on to Japan and China and Mongolia.
It's to,
again, reemphasize the rebalance strategic interests of our country, to
reassure our allies, to, again, make very clear of our commitment to our allies
in the Asia Pacific. This will be my fourth trip since becoming Secretary
of Defense to Asia Pacific. The meeting in Hawaii and the full agenda of
this trip, again, underscores the importance of this rebalance. And it's
going to give us an opportunity to talk specifically about some of the issues
that we're dealing with in the Asia Pacific, all of our partners, the security
challenges, the issues that are of concern to peace, prosperity, the future of
that region. And as you all know, we have been, the United States of America,
a Pacific power for many years. We've looked forward to a continuation of
building those relationships and those partnerships as we go forward.
Security
and stability are key anchors for prosperity, for economic development and we
rebalance to the Asia Pacific with all of those different responsibilities and
dimensions as our focus. And it's pretty clear the tremendous progress
that's been made in the Asia Pacific the last few years has been much the
result of a secure area, an area that has worked through many of its
differences peacefully. There are still issues. There are still
questions.
But it's
a region that has prospered because they have worked through many of these --
these differences.
And the
ASEAN institution itself, that organization is a critically important part of
that. So to have the 10 ASEAN defense ministers in Hawaii, on United
States soil, is important. And I'm looking forward to that meeting with
my ASEAN counterparts.
Let me
now turn to another matter before taking your questions, and that is the
finding and recovering and identifying the remains of America's missing from
past conflicts. This effort is not just a top priority for the Department
of Defense; it's our responsibility and our obligation.
In
February, I directed the acting undersecretary of defense for policy, Mike
Lumpkin, to provide me with recommendations on how to reorganize the Joint
Prisoner of War, Missing in Action Accounting Command or otherwise known as
JPAC, so that DOD could more effectively account for our missing personnel and
ensure their families receive timely and accurate information.
Based on
his recommendations, I've directed the department to undertake the following
steps to reorganize this effort into a single, accountable organization that
has complete oversight of personnel accounting resources, research and
operations.
First,
we will establish a new Defense agency that combines the Defense Prisoners of
War, Missing Personnel Office, or otherwise known as DPMO, the JPAC office, and
select functions of the U.S. Air Force's Life Scientists Equipment Laboratory.
This agency will be overseen by the undersecretary of defense for policy.
By
consolidating functions, we will resolve issues of duplication and
inefficiency, and build a stronger, more transparent and more responsive
organization.
All
communications with family members of the missing from past conflicts will be
managed and will be organized by this new agency.
Second,
to streamline the identification process, an armed forces medical examiner,
working for the new agency, will be single -- will be the single DOD
identification authority. They will oversee the scientific operations of
the central identification laboratory in Hawaii and other laboratories in Omaha
and Dayton.
Third,
to centralize budgetary resources for this important mission, we will work with
Congress to realign its appropriations into a single budget.
Fourth,
to improve the search, recovery and identification process, the department will
implement a centralized database and case management system, containing all
missing service members’ information.
Fifth,
I've directed the department to develop proposals for expanding public/private
partnerships in identifying our missing. The goal is to leverage the
capabilities and the efforts of organizations outside of government that
responsible work to account for our missing.
These
steps will help improve the accounting mission, increase the number of
identifications of our missing, provide greater transparency for their
families, and expand our case file system to include all missing personnel.
We will
continue to do everything we can to account for and bring as many of our
missing and fallen service personnel as possible home here to the United
States.
We've
been listening to and consulting with veterans' service organizations about how
to improve the department's MIA operations. And I appreciate, we all
appreciate, their input and their support to ensure the full accounting of all
of our country's missing service members. And we will continue to work
closely together as we go forward.
I want
to particularly thank Mike Lumpkin and his team for their efforts.
And I
also want to thank the veterans' organizations who have been so important over
so many years to this effort.
And in
particularly – in particular, I want to thank Ann Mills Griffin of the National
League of Families, for her many, many years of service and leadership on this
project.
Ann came
to see me last December. I've known Ann and worked with her for over 30
years on many projects. And she presented to me a five-page,
single-spaced, well thought through, first, identification of the issues; a
framing of the problems; and I thought some very, very solid recommendations on
how we go forward.
So she
deserves a lot of credit. Her organization deserves credit, as well as
the institutions and veterans organizations that have been key to this effort
for many years.
Thank
you. I'd be glad to respond to questions.
Q:
Mr. Secretary, on that -- on that last issue, how does all this address
the basic demand of the families of the missing that you provide faster and
more reliable accounting? And if I may throw in a second question, if you
don't mind, could you confirm the reports that the Russians have begun pulling
forces back from the border with Ukraine.
SEC.
HAGEL: Well, on the first question, Bob, I think if you really break this
down as to what we've done here, as to how it relates to the families, we're
streamlining everything. We're streamlining the organization, the process
and the resources. And what that means to families is, first, they will
be communicated with clearly, directly, and it will be communications from one
central location. That has not been the case.
They'll
have a place where they can go to identify updates, questions, concerns.
And it won't be a one-way street. It will be a two-way street.
We'll communicate with them.
I think
another reason the families will strongly support what we're doing is it helps
us do the job. It helps us get the mission accomplished. We've got
tens of thousands of missing all over the world. And it's a difficult --
it's a very difficult mission. And if we put together a better institution,
organization, better management, better structure, better use of our resources,
then I hope we'll be far more effective in being able to accomplish the mission
of identifying these missing remains and getting these missing remains brought
home to the families.
So, I'm
much encouraged, and I again want to say how much we all appreciate the good
work that's been done here. There's -- there's not a more poignant,
emotional, important issue in our society today, and you all know this, than
you take care of the people who gave their lives to this country, and you take
care of their families. And that has been a critical component of who we
are as Americans from -- from beginning -- from the beginning of this republic.
Your
second question, I cannot confirm, Bob, one way or the other whether the
Russians are pulling troops back from the Ukrainian-Russian border. As
you know, President Obama made it very clear to President Putin in their
conversation that that is going to be required, necessary in order for us to
have any -- any further meaningful conversation about how we resolve and
deescalate this crisis.
I think
it was also made pretty clear by Secretary Kerry yesterday in his conversations
with Minister Lavrov.
Q:
If I could follow up on what Bob said. Is it your understanding
that there was an agreement by the Russians to pull back those 40,000-plus
troops in those conversations with the president or with Secretary Kerry?
SEC.
HAGEL: No, I didn't say that. What I said was, what the president
told President Putin and what Secretary Kerry told Minister Lavrov, as I told
Minister Shoigu when Minister Shoigu and I spoke last week. Minister
Shoigu, I think as we reported out, assured me that those troops were there for
exercises. And he assured me they were not going to cross the border and
I think Mr. Lavrov has said the same thing, as has President Putin.
But that
said, there's still a tremendous buildup of Russian forces on that border.
Q:
What do you mean by "tremendous buildup? Can you give us a sense
of how many troops are...
SEC.
HAGEL: Tens of thousands.
Q:
Mr. Secretary, why do you think -- why do you think President Putin
amassed those troops on the border? Do you think that there was really
any intent to actually enter Ukraine with those forces? Or that he simply
did that as a bargaining chip so that the rest of the world would forget the
fact that they took over Crimea and think, well, as long as they're not going
in the Ukraine, they can keep Crimea?
SEC.
HAGEL: Well, you're not going to like the answer, but I don't know, Jim,
what the -- his intentions were.
Barbara?
Q:
Sir, could I ask you about North Korea?
The
artillery firings that we saw by the North Koreans into the Western Sea earlier
today plus the Nodong medium-range missile firings and their statements on a
nuclear test, number one, do you worry or what evidence do you have we might be
entering a new provocation cycle with North Korea?
And a
very quick follow-up on a different subject, the Malaysian minister early
today, his press conference talked about traveling to ASEAN and meeting with
you and said that he would be asking you for additional capabilities or
equipment to help search for the plane, but he wasn't specific and I was
wondering if there's any -- you can think of any additional assistance that the
U.S. might realistically, practically be able to give to that effort, but North
Korea first.
SEC.
HAGEL: On North Korea, I'm in touch with our commander there, the U.N.
commander, briefing, Commander General Scaparrotti. He had a report about
two hours ago this morning on briefing me on what was going on. I think
you all have the latest. There has been artillery exchanges. As you
know, the fishing vessel was released. So the provocation that the North
Koreans have, once again, engaged in, is dangerous and it -- and it needs to
stop.
As to
the Malaysian acting transportation minister, defense minister, I've spoken
with him twice in the last week. In both instances, when he's requested
assistance, we have provided that assistance, some of the latest equipment
being the pinger locator, which I think, as you know, has left Australian -- on
an Australian ship headed toward this vast area, where we all think we may have
identified something. But just a reminder, that area is the size of New
Mexico. And this very sophisticated equipment that we have provided and
we have provided, as far as I know, everything the Malaysian government has
requested of us, is really reliant totally on defined search areas. It's
got tremendous capability but we've -- we're going to have to narrow the search
area.
I don't
know what additional requests he will make of me. I certainly will listen
carefully to whatever those are. I think the Australians, as you all
know, now are in the lead on this and they've been doing a tremendous job.
We're providing everything we can provide as are other countries.
But the Australians have this now and are really doing quite a good job
with it, too.
Thank
you.
Q:
On North Korea, North Korea foreign minister announced yesterday North
Korea were going to look for nuclear tests soon. How did you respond
toward this North Korea's putting statement?
SEC.
HAGEL: Well, as I've said, the North Koreans have to stop these
provocative actions. And we have been very clear on that. And
obviously when I'm in China, that will be a subject that I will discuss with my
counterpart in China.
Q:
Mr. Secretary, Ukraine has asked that the United States for weapons and
for other military supplies, as they feel vulnerable, in light of what's
happened in recent weeks, can you bring us up to speed on how those
deliberations are working through the U.S. government, whether there's any new
thinking about what type of aid would be -- would be a good idea that -- to
render?
SEC.
HAGEL: Well, as you know, the Ukrainians have asked for different kinds
of materiel and their requests for assistance. You also know that the
MREs have now been delivered. The interagency is going through the last
cuts of decision-making on what additional assistance the United States would
provide. As you all know, Secretary Kerry is in Brussels today, will be
there for NATO meetings the next two days. I suspect these are gonna be
issues that our NATO partners and the United States will be discussing as well.
I'll
come back to you...
Q:
Mr. Secretary, General Breedlove was scheduled to testify in front of the
Armed Services Committees this week, but he was recalled to Europe because of
the Ukraine-Russia crisis.
In light
of what's happening with North Korea, is there any thought being given to
having General Scaparrotti stay there, rather than testify this week, as he's
scheduled to do?
SEC.
HAGEL: Well, certainly, the kind of world that we live in is not a
prescribed week-long schedule kind of world. Depending on issues and
challenges that occur, we have the flexibility of always adjusting our military
commanders, depending on where they're required.
In
General Breedlove's case, I think it was the smart thing to do to have him go
back in light of his importance to NATO, especially with the NATO foreign
ministers meeting the next two days. The supreme allied commander is
going to be an integral part of that -- of that session over the next two days.
So we're
flexible in depending on where we need our commanders, where the focus is the
most important is the way we'll do it.
Jen?
Q:
Mr. Secretary, I'd like to get your thoughts on this March 14th memo from
your department about the banning of tobacco sales on military bases and in the
Navy in particular.
You were
in Vietnam. You know how cigarettes are often used by forces in combat.
It's a morale issue.
Where do
you stand on the issue of banning tobacco sales and possibly smoking on bases
and ships?
SEC.
HAGEL: Well, as you know, the Navy already has taken some action on this
over the years.
I think
you start with, like any of these issues, you look at the health of your force.
I don't know if there's anybody in America who still thinks that
tobacco's good for you. Maybe there are some.
The
surgeon general 50 years ago made that statement pretty clear.
We don't
allow smoking in any of our government buildings, restaurants, states and
municipalities have pretty clear regulations on this.
I think
in reviewing any options that we have as to whether we in the military through
commissaries, PXs, sell or continue to sell tobacco is something we need to
look at. And we are looking at it. And I think we owe it to -- our
people.
The
costs, health care costs, are astounding. Well over a billion dollars,
just in the Department of Defense, on tobacco-related illness and health care.
Now, the
dollars are one thing, but the health of your -- of your people, I don't know
if you put a price tag on that.
So I
think it does need to be looked at and reviewed.
Yes?
(CROSSTALK)
Q:
In regards to Mexico, Mexico and U.S. military forces have developed
recently a very close relationship, and they have achieved agreements to
support each other in case of natural disasters or other common threats.
But
recently, there have not been any meetings between both secretaries.
Do you
plan to go to Mexico or the secretaries will come over here? And what is
the current -- current level of cooperation? Is there any training --
training to Mexican troops, or are they participating in military exercise with
the U.S.?
SEC.
HAGEL: Well, first, I think you probably know that our secretary of
homeland security, Secretary Johnson, was just recently in Mexico and met with
all the senior leaders, including the president.
I will
be going to Mexico. I'm not sure we were going to announce that today,
but -- (Laughter.) -- I get nervous when Kirby gets too close to me here, and I
-- tells me not to say something.
But I
will be going to Mexico. Mexico is a very important partner, and we'll
continue to strengthen that relationship.
Thank
you very much. I'll see you on -- some of you on the plane.
As
family members with loved ones still unaccounted-for from past wars prepare for
changes in how the US Government will speed up recoveries, there is a
likelihood that more emphasis will be placed on exhumations of
service members’ remains interred in America’s 24 burial grounds on
foreign soil and presumably in Hawaii. Most are located in Europe and
have been a major attraction by American visitors for decades.
The U.S.
military’s recent pivot to Asia Pacific generated an urgency for
recoveries/identifications of MIAs in that region. In the Manila
American Cemetery and Memorial, many of our WWII losses were killed in New
Guinea or the Battle of the Philippines and the Allied recapture of the
islands, according to the American Battle Monuments Commission — the
organization that maintains our military cemeteries. There are no
American-maintained cemeteries in Korea or Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.
THE
BASICS
Secretary
of Defense Chuck Hagel made it official on March 31st during a press
conference, explaining that the Defense Prisoner of War/Missing
Personnel Office (DPMO) and the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC)
are to be consolidated into one agency, of which has yet to be
named. The newly formed agency will report to a civilian, appointed
by the President.
At this
point, it appears that Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Michael Lumpkin
has assumed temporary responsibility. Lumpkin was assigned the task of
presenting a plan of how to reorganize the accounting community and
given 30 days to complete the assignment. Whoever is appointed to
lead the new agency will need nerves of steel. No date was
given as to when the agency will be stood up, but it is expected to be
headquartered at the Pentagon with changeover coming in weeks, according to one
report.
CHANGE
IN LAB IDENTIFICATIONS
JPACs
Central Identification Laboratory (CIL) will no longer be the lead organization
for MIA identifications. The Armed Forces Medical Examiner will work for
the new agency and be the single identification authority and oversee
operations at the CIL in Hawaii, and satellite labs in Omaha, NE, and Dayton,
Ohio. It appears that most remains are expected to be identified through
DNA. The Pentagon should have the resources to ensure that all DNA is
captured efficiently and quickly. I know how hard DPMO and JPAC worked at
every annual meeting and regional meeting to spread the word, but their
resources were limited.
Although
nothing was mentioned about the role of anthropologists, who have
traditionally worked in the field and the lab, I am hopeful that they will
continue to assist in the process. Most people do not know
that the CIL has earned some of the highest ratings possible in the field of
forensic science. It is in the same league as the FBI lab, and in fact
has consulted over time with Bureau specialists. The
CILs certifications allow their scientists to assist with major
disasters throughout the world. The lab, under Dr. Tom Holland, has
reportedly never produced a mistaken identification in 20 years. Holland
is respected on a global level, as are those who work for him at the top
management levels. It was not clear if Holland will be offered a
role with the new agency.
JOIN THE
SEARCH?
Few
details or hardcore questions were asked of Hagel or Lumpkin by the press corps
assigned to the Pentagon, namely as to how the military will fit into the newly
organized agency, since JPAC is a military command. Because the military
is critical for the overall success of the accounting mission, I actually
anticipate that military involvement could increase, but with the drawdown, who
knows! Even though Lumpkin’s plan calls for expanding opportunities
for private search groups to get involved and a host of other ways of doing
more with less, I am hoping that the government is sufficiently
concerned about liability — operations are dangerous and sometimes hazardous
because of UXOs. Plus, there can be political ramifications of sending
private groups, as opposed to official groups, to global
locations. However, JPAC has been involved with a number of outside
groups, and those will likely be given a larger role. Each country has a
little different type of welcome mat for teams conducting field
operations. My guess is that the new agency will be doing a lot of
internal and external policy revisions.
WORKABLE
DATABASE
The
agency will create a centralized database and case management system that will
be comprised of all missing service members’ information. In my opinion,
this will be the biggest, most complex part of the reorganization and should
reveal a lot about the difficulties that predecessors have had in working many
of the cases, especially ones from WWII.
Unless
officials understand that historic MIA case files from WWII need to be
updated and prioritized before passing them along to operational
teams, they will be kicking the can down the road. A good, functioning
database should be able to flag those cases that are ready to go. A word
of caution — I suggest that the government be very careful not to get rid
of experienced forensic analysts and forensic investigators familiar
with MIA recoveries — these people can work with whomever is creating a
new MIA solutions-oriented program and, hopefully, avoid the
garbage in, garbage out situation. One of the biggest advantages
that could come out of a good system is the grouping of well-prepared
cases to allow multiple field operations in one geographic area.
Good logistics will save money as this program becomes bigger in the near
future. JPAC has worked effectively in Southeast Asia — mainly in Vietnam —
using this type of model.
MAKING
THE NUMBERS
It
appears that making 200 identifications annually by 2015, as mandated in the
2010 National Defense Authorization Act, is still a go. My assumption is
that there are plans for exhumations to ensure that the goal is met.
However, I would caution about relying too much on exhumations, because there
are different schools of thought about the sanctity of these graves. But
perhaps even more concerning would be the potential for exhuming remains for
which there is no
DNA match. I know that families and the general public will be eager to
learn the results of these recoveries. Most of us are more familiar
with hand-overs or field operations. It has been my understanding that
many interments consist of co-mingled remains, which can be challenging to sort
out, but perhaps science has now broken through most of the barriers.
TRANSPARENCY
FOR FAMILIES
Hagel
also noted that the new agency would provide a single point of contact for all
families. The theory is to offer easy access for learning about search
and identification activities and is part of the government’s promise of
transparency. With thousands of families wanting information but not
being computer literate and living in different time zones, I’m not sure
how this will work but we’ll soon find out.
For
those of us with loved ones still unaccounted-for from the Vietnam War, there
were apparently no sidebar conversations with Lumpkin or Hagel – at
least that surfaced immediately – about the future of the detachments
in Southeast Asia. But most reporters that cover the Pentagon would not
necessarily be aware of the intricacies of recovering our loved ones from the
field. However, you can bet that every Vietnam War family who has been
following their loved one’s case is eager to know that
the work in Southeast Asia will continue and perhaps
increase. Time is running out for recovering our MIAs in that part
of the world, and I hope that Lumpkin will visit Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia
ASAP to see for himself. How large a role our government will play
in future Vietnam War recoveries, versus the Vietnamese government, is likely
to be a big issue down the road.
ADVICE
FOR LUMPKIN
Obviously,
the reorganization is in the early stages, and no one at this time is making
any promises of when the agency expects to be fully
operational. The DoD will officially own this program and be
responsible for its achievements and failings and, as most of us know, there
are no sacred cows in this arena. My advice to Lumpkin is that he
embrace some of the long-time internal experts in DPMO and JPAC, and forget all
the BS that has literally taken over the MIA program with journalists
looking for the big scoop and people wanting to earn their bones — no pun
intended, telling you they know the latest and greatest about historical
recoveries. It is the families that need to be convinced that
the new agency is not overselling and under delivering, but prepared
to keep its promise. We want this new effort to work.
What do
I think of the plan? Guardedly optimistic, but as Ann Mills
Griffiths was quoted in an article, “the proof is in the
pudding.”
Tags: 3rd
Marine Aircraft Wing, Ann Mills
Griffiths, Brett
Davis, Craig
Zimmer, DASD Que
Winfield, DPMO, Dr. Tom Holland, F-4 Phantom,Jessica Tavasti, Johnie Webb, JPAC, JPACs
Central Identification Lab,Korean War;
Cold War, Lt Col Ed
Nevgloski, LTC Julian Tran, LTC Patrick
Keane, LtC
Todd Emoto, Maj Gen
Kelly McKeague, Maj Gen
Stephen Tom,Maj
Greg Jones, National
League of POW/MIA Families, PACOM, Pentagon;
Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, POW-MIA
Family League, Ron
Ward,Secretary
of Defense Chuck Hagel; Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Michael Lumpkin, TBS 1-67, TBS 6-67; TBS
4-67, USA, USAF, USMC,USN, Vietnam
Veterans of America, Vietnam War; WWII, VMFA-542
Secretary
of Defense Chuck Hagel is preparing to overhaul the MIA Accounting Community.
He has directed the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, Michael
Lumpkin, a retired Naval Officer and former SEAL with a distinguished service
record, to come up with a plan by 20 March.
ALERT!
Families
with loved ones missing-in-action from WWII, the Korean War, Vietnam War and
Cold War could soon learn of the direction that Secretary of Defense Chuck
Hagel plans to take the accounting community in the near future.
Undergoing a huge overhaul, the community is comprised of several organizations
involved with MIA operations – most of which also support our nation’s
active-duty military. If all goes well, they will find
themselves operating as one big happy family.
Included
in the group are the Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO),
Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC), Armed Forces DNA Laboratory (AFDIL),
Life Sciences Equipment Laboratory of the Air Force (LSEL), casualty and
mortuary affairs offices of the military departments and other groups as
designated by the Secretary of Defense.
Hagel
has directed the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, Michael Lumpkin, a
retired Naval Officer and former SEAL Team Commander, to take all information
given to him by the Military Departments, Combatant Commands and OSD to
reorganize the accounting community “into a single accountable entity that has
oversight of all personnel accounting resources, research, and operations
across the Department.” Hagel signed the directive, Feb. 20th with a
30-day deadline, meaning that Lumpkin has until March 20th to pull it all
together.
ON THE
TABLE
Hagel’s
directive involves the following issues: how to maximize the number of
identifications; improve transparency for families; reduce duplicative
functions; and how to establish a system for centralized, accessible case files
for missing personnel.
Hagel
also wants recommendations for changes to the civilian and military personnel
policies, contracting and acquisition policies, statutory and regulatory
authorities, facilities, budgets and procedures to ensure effective oversight
of laboratory operations.
REALITY
CHECK
In my
opinion the most misunderstood – yet critical component — is in the area of
field operations, which fall under JPAC – the military organization that
conducts investigations, excavations and recoveries around the globe. The
ultimate goal is to bring home remains that will lead to identifications of MIA
service members. Currently, all remains are processed at JPACs Central
Identification Laboratory (CIL) at Hickam AFB in Hawaii – most are identified
by the scientists at the CIL, but with advances in DNA capability and when
appropriate, more and more are sent to the AFDIL at Dover AFB in Delaware for
identification.
JPAC
also conducts exhumations, which are expected to increase over time, especially
when DPMO updates policies related to exhumed remains. In addition, JPAC
facilitates the recovery of remains, handed over by foreign countries, that
have been missing for decades and may belong to an American MIA. All
remains are unique, as is the process of identifying them.
MANDATE
MADNESS
Many
family members and government officials do not understand the nature of field
operations, namely because the uniqueness factor comes into play once
again. Finding and identifying historic remains is very difficult, as is
making the numbers of IDs to meet new government guidelines imposed by the 2010
National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
The NDAA
included a mandate that JPACs lab produce 200 identifications annually by 2015,
without paying attention to how the system works and the difficulty of executing
such a broad-reaching mandate without sufficient resources across the
board. The idea may have been well-meaning, but it was poorly thought out
and, in some ways, led us to where we are now.
SUCCESS
IN THE FIELD
What the
operational teams do in the field is nothing short of
amazing. Imagine conducting a recovery in an Alaskan glacier,
related to a 1952 Korean War missing aircraft; or finding pieces of aircraft
and life support gear 150 ft. below the waters, off the coast of Vietnam — four
decades after it crashed. Contrary to what may appear in some recounts of
these missions, JPAC is actively involved in the process.
SOCIALIST
REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM (May 27, 2011) – A Vietnamese Naval Officer, left, learns
about the USNS Bowditch from the ship’s Captain and another crew member during
an ongoing investigation off the coast of Vietnam. The USNS Bowditch is a
Pathfinder Class oceanographic research ship which uses specialized sonar to
survey the ocean’s floor, searching for U.S. aircraft lost during the Vietnam
War. (JPAC photo by DON civilian Ron Ward/Released)
Our
military and experts from other countries or disciplines provide critical
support for many operations, beyond boots-on-the-ground. They bring
with them specially-equipped ships to look for off shore crashes, while others
bring innovative equipment. There is so much that goes on behind the
scenes, often not producing immediate success, but slow is not “no” in the
recovery business.
We have
hundreds of thousands of people who have gone missing in America, never to be
found — even when the case was hot and generated a lot of hype and
searches; JPAC field teams go out and find our missing service
members (some from nearly a century ago), working on cold cases in
some of the most horrific conditions in foreign countries, and yet we seem more
interested in denouncing instead of crediting them.
MIA
EDUCATION
It is
never going to be easy to find our MIAs. No one knows the actual number
of missing service members due to historic recordkeeping, particularly during
the WWII era, nor do we really know how many are recoverable; however, the
effort to bring home remains of our loved ones is as much a part of military
lore as it is a part of our nation’s promise to help MIA families find closure.
As our
nation becomes more disconnected from the military, it is obvious that stories
and TV coverage about the MIA situation often lack credibility, because fewer
people understand what death in combat is like — never mind historical combat.
They do not know how bodies go missing on the battlefield; how aircraft from
wars in different eras result in different types of crashes. And how
in-country geographic conditions can vary, making it impossible to say that a
piece of ground penetrating equipment that works in one area will do likewise
in another.
And when
field teams are armed with poorly prepared case data, as can exist in WWII
cases, the results can be costly on several levels. Finding a former
enemy’s remains does not lead to closure for a family back in the states, and
JPAC ends up eating the cost of a very time intensive excavation.
The need
for solutions oriented software may finally find its way to the accounting
community — in my opinion this will be a key element in any plan.
MAKING
GOOD CHOICES
Although
Lumpkin has not been involved in the global MIA effort, his credentials are
impressive, especially as they apply to his military career. Lumpkin
spent time in Iraq, Afghanistan, Horn of Africa and the Philippines. He
also held top leadership positions throughout his distinguished SEAL career.
Michael
Lumpkin
I am
confident that Lumpkin will come up with a solid, realistic plan. Where
it goes from there remains to be seen.
There
are so many moving parts to this huge undertaking that placing emphasis in the
right area will be difficult but not impossible. Above all,
we have the greatest military in the world, and with proper support and budget,
they are well-positioned to take care of their own. I hope Hagel and
Lumpkin agree.
We all
want the same thing — to bring home our MIAs from former battlefields. It
is what America does, and we don’t give up.
Defense
Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) News
From
DASD Winfield May 5, 2014:
G-o-o-o-o-o-d
Afternoon
Teammates,
Partners, Stakeholders and Friends,
Spring
has finally sprung. After the cold winter the sunshine and cherry blossoms are
a welcome sight. I hope this finds warm and sunny skies arriving to your
home too. As the weather warms here, there is a lot going on in the
Personnel Accounting Community.
Oral History
Program:
On March 24 a DPMO analyst attended the annual reunion of the Army’s 24th
Infantry Division, West Coast Chapter, in Laughlin Nev. Forty-one Korean
War veterans were interviewed to collect information useful for pursuing leads
on unaccounted for service members from the Korean War.
National
Personnel Records Research:
From March 31 to April 4, two analysts from DPMO conducted research at the
National Personnel Records Center for DPMO, JPAC, and the Service Casualty
Offices. During their visit, they scanned 320 personnel files related to
the Vietnam conflict and 27 related to World War II.
Meeting
with Kuentai USA:
Mr. Bruce Harder (DPMO), Dr. Cynthia Chambers (DPMO), Dr. Ian Spurgeon (DPMO),
Mr. Dan Melton (JPAC) and Ms. Atsuko Hayashi (JPAC), met with members of
Kuentai USA. Kuentai USA is a non-profit organization dedicated to
recovering American and Japanese dead from World War II battlefields in the
Pacific. Building a relationship with this new organization will enhance
our efforts to repatriate our fallen heroes.
Recently
laid to rest:
-Cpl. William F. Day, U.S. Army, Company C, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 31st
Regimental Combat Team, was lost on Dec. 2, 1950, in North Korea. He was
accounted for on March 6, 2014. He was buried with full military honors
on April 7, 2014, in La Center, Ky.
-1st Lt. Louis L. Longman , U.S. Army Air Forces, 433rd Fighter Squadron, 475th
Fighter Group, 5th Air Force, was lost on April 16, 1944, in Papua New Guniea.
He was accounted for on Nov. 1, 2013. He was buried with full military
honors on April 12, 2014, in Rock Island, Ill.
-2nd Lt. Verne L. Gibb, U.S. Army Air Forces, 72nd Area Service Squadron, 52nd
Area Service Group, 10th Air Force, was lost on Oct. 23, 1945, in Burma.
He was accounted for on Nov. 22, 2013. He was buried with full military
honors on April 23, 2014, in Leavenworth, Kan.
-Pfc. William T. Carneal, U.S. Army, Company D, 1st Battalion, 105th Infantry
Regiment, was lost on July 7, 1944, in Saipan. He was accounted for on
Jan. 21, 2014. He was buried with full military honors on April 25, 2014, in
Paducah, Ky.
From
DASD Winfield April 4, 2014:
DPMO —
Did you know? April 4, 2014
To:
G-o-o-o-o-o-d
Afternoon Teammates, Partners, Stakeholders and Friends,
It’s
hard to believe that spring is upon us! Here is an update on what has
been going on in the Personnel Accounting Community.
Personnel
Accounting Community Reorganization:
On February 20, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel directed the Acting Under
Secretary of Defense for Policy, Michael Lumpkin, to provide him with
recommendations on how to reorganize the Personnel Accounting Community so
that DoD can more effectively account for our missing personnel and ensure
their families receive timely and accurate information. Based on his
recommendations, those of past reviews, and inputs from Veteran Service
Organizations and Family Organizations, Secretary Hagel announced on March
31, the actions he has directed the DoD to undertake to reorganize the
mission of accounting for our personnel from previous wars into a single,
accountable organization that has complete oversight of personnel accounting
resources, research and operations.
Secretary
Hagel’s decision to reorganize DoD’s Personnel Accounting mission
includes the following:
1.
DoD will establish a new Defense Agency that combines DPMO, JPAC,
and select functions of the U.S. Air Force’s Life Sciences Equipment
Laboratory. This agency will be led by a presidentially appointed
official
with a General officer deputy, and will be overseen by the Under Secretary
of Defense for Policy. All communications with family members of the
missing from past conflicts will be managed and organized by this new
agency. DoD will provide proposed changes to existing legislation needed
to
support this decision for consideration in the 2015 National Defense
Authorization Act.
2.
To streamline the identification process, an Armed Forces Medical
Examiner working for the new agency will be the single DoD identification
authority for past conflict identifications. They will oversee the
scientific operations of the Central Identification Laboratory in Hawaii,
the satellite laboratory in Omaha, Neb., and the Life Science Equipment
Laboratory in Dayton, Ohio.
3.
DoD will work with Congress to realign its appropriations for this
mission into a single budget line, allowing for greater execution
flexibility in the accounting mission with the ability to align resources to
respond more effectively.
4.
To improve the search, recovery, and identification process, the DoD
will implement a centralized database and case management system containing
all missing service members’ information.
5.
Secretary Hagel has also directed DoD to develop proposals for
expanding public-private partnerships in identifying our missing. The
goal
is to leverage the capabilities and efforts of organizations outside of
government that responsibly work to account for our missing.
Implementation of these steps will help improve the accounting mission,
increase the number of identifications of our missing, provide greater
transparency for their families, and expand our case file system to include
all missing personnel. DoD will continue to do everything possible to
account for and bring home our missing and fallen service personnel.
Meeting
with Japanese non-governmental organizations:
On February 20, DPMO representatives from Accounting Policy and World War II
Division met with two representatives from the Kuentai, a Japanese
non-governmental organization. Since last summer, both DPMO and Joint
POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) representatives have met several times
with the Kuentai. At this meeting, JPAC J5 representatives participated in a
telephone conference call with DPMO and Kuentai representatives. The Kuentai
conducts research and field activities in the U.S. and Asia to locate
remains of missing Japanese servicemen from World War II. For the last two
years, the Kuentai have conducted work in Saipan and have discovered the
remains of five probable U.S. soldiers from World War II, which have been
transferred to JPAC’s central identification laboratory to undergo the
identification process and analysis. Pfc. William Carneal was accounted for
Jan. 21, 2014. The other identifications are still in progress.
U.S. –
Laos Consultations:
On February 28, in Vientiane, Laos, DPMO joined counterparts from JPAC, DIA
(Stony Beach), and the U.S. Embassy Vientiane in semi-annual consultations
with the government of Laos missing in action committee. This meeting was
used to discuss recently completed joint field activities and review planned
future operations in the country. In addition to JPAC commander Maj. Gen.
Kelly McKeague, U.S. Ambassador to Laos Honorable Dan Clune and Deputy Chief
of Mission Paul Mayer also participated in the discussions. The talks were
cordial, with much discussion and useful exchanges, and contributed to our
goal of achieving the fullest possible accounting for Americans missing in
that country. The next round of consultations is tentatively scheduled
for
late summer.
Charlotte
Family Member Update:
More than 229 families of servicemen missing from the Vietnam War, Korean
War, Cold War, and World War II attended our latest family update meeting on
March 15, making it the second largest monthly meeting since we started the
program in 1995. Of the 229 families that attended, 162 had never been to
a
monthly meeting before. This demonstrates the continued strong interest
and
support of the families. The unfortunate reality is we will never be able
to account for all those who are missing, but we do have the capability to
reach out and try and provide answers to the families on the fates of their
loved ones. Presently, the DPMO staff is working on some of the follow-up
actions resulting from that meeting.
World
War II division case coordination work:
World War II analysts and historians are working on fulfilling the
requirement to build case files for every loss as directed by National
Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2010. This is being
accomplished
by three related efforts. The first effort is a contract with
Lockheed
Martin (LM) to scan all the Individual Deceased Personnel Files (IDPF) so
that they are available in a digital format. Scanning IDPFs will have
multiple benefits; it will save money in the long-run, it will reduce
contact with the original documents and therefore preserve the originals,
and it will increase the availability of information across the Personnel
Accounting Community. Second, World War II Division is working on writing
a
case summary for every missing individual. This work begins with
acquisition of the IDPF and traveling to the National Archives (NARA) in
College Park, Md. to collect unit histories or other archival documentation
necessary to compose a case summary. The primary source documentation
held
at NARA allows analysts to reconstruct the circumstances of loss and
previous search and recovery efforts. The standard being applied is the
case summary product that DPMO provides to families that attend the family
member updates. Third, analysts are working to aggregate the historical
and
geographic data already collected by DPMO and JPAC into a consolidated
Personnel Accounting Community database.
Vietnam
War case coordination work:
Representatives from DPMO, JPAC, LSEL and DIA (Stony Beach) met in Hawaii
from February 24 – 28 for the 48th Case Coordination Conference to determine
the way ahead for 384 of our service members still unaccounted for in
Southeast Asia (SEA). Analysts and field investigators reviewed all
available information on 243 cases involving those lost in Laos (72),
Vietnam (170) and China (one). They agreed upon the next steps toward
accounting for each individual while ensuring all efforts by the Accounting
Community were coordinated and focused on the same goal. SEA Accounting
Community participants also invited the JPAC Deputy Commander and the JPAC
Deputy J2 to observe our coordination process. All parties came away with
a
much clearer understanding of how our analytical judgments can and do
support JPAC’s operational planning and resourcing decisions.
Northeast
Asia (NEA) case coordination work:
Analysts from DPMO’s NEA Branch, Joint Commission Support Division, and
JPAC Research and Analysis held a Case Coordination Conference
February
26-27 to review the past six months of case investigations in the Republic
of Korea and determine next steps for operations for the rest of fiscal year.
Archival research and oral history initiatives from the past year were
also reviewed. The total number of cases covered was 2,706 individual
losses.
Recently
laid to rest:
-Pfc.
Donald C. Durfee, U.S. Army, Company M, 31st Infantry Regiment, 31st
Regimental Combat Team (RCT), was lost Dec. 2, 1950 in North Korea. He was
accounted for Jan. 30, 2014. He was buried March 6, 2014 in Rittman, Ohio.
-Staff
Sgt. Lawrence Woods, U.S. Army, Head Quarters, 5th Special Forces
Group, 1st Special Forces, was lost Oct. 24, 1964 near the Cambodian border.
He was accounted for Sept. 27, 2013. He was buried with full military honors
in Arlington National Cemetery, March 21, 2014.
-Cpl.
Cristobal Romo, U.S. Army, Company L, 3rd Battalion, 31st Infantry
Regiment, 7th Infantry Division, was lost Dec. 12, 1950 in North Korea. He
was accounted for Jan. 13, 2014. He was buried with full military honors in
Riverside, Calif., March 22, 2014.
All the
best, Q
W
Montague “Q” Winfield, Maj Gen (Ret)
Deputy
Assistant Secretary of Defense
POW /
Missing Personnel Affairs and Director, Defense POW / Missing Personnel Office
Pentagon
Overhauls Effort to Identify its Missing
The
restructuring promises to address many of the problems laid out in a recent
ProPublica and NPR investigation.
The
Pentagon is overhauling its efforts to find and identify missing service
members from past wars, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced Monday.
The
changes address the problems laid
out in an investigation by ProPublica and NPR, including outdated
scientific methods, overlapping bureaucracy, a risk-averse disinterment policy
for the 9,400 unknowns buried around the world, and poor laboratory management
that inhibited the mission.
by Megan
McClosey. Mar. 6, 2014
“The
time has come for a paradigm shift,” said Acting Under Secretary of Defense for
Policy Michael Lumpkin, who headed up a 30-day review of the mission Hagel
ordered in February.
One of
the bigger changes involves the military’s failure to embrace DNA. Our
investigation detailed how the Pentagon identification effort relegated DNA to
only a confirmation tool, rather than using it to lead the process as is now
done in other countries.
Using a
DNA-led process is “absolutely something we’re going to move toward,” Lumpkin
said.
The
Pentagon will “break away from the way of traditionally doing business...that
didn’t fully embrace progressive science,” he said.
The
Pentagon spends about $100 million a year on the MIA mission, yet it solves
surprisingly few cases. Last year, the military identified just 60 service
members out of the about 83,000 Americans missing from World War II, Korea and
Vietnam. The lackluster efforts have been subjected to intense Congressional
scrutiny and media coverage, including holding
fake arrival ceremonies and mismanaging
overseas excavations.
In restructuring
the mission, the Pentagon is eliminating the two main agencies — the
Hawaii-based Joint Prisoner of War/Missing in Action Accounting Command and the
Washington-based Defense Prisoner of War Missing Personnel Office — and
creating a new single agency. There will be one chain of command and one
budget.
“We’re
streamlining everything,” Hagel said.
The
reorganization “resolves issues of duplication and inefficiency” and makes the
effort “more transparent and responsive” to families, he said. The changes will
be implemented over the next 18 months.
Although
it’s unclear at this point what positions and personnel will be eliminated
besides the commanders of JPAC and DPMO, Lumpkin insisted the as-yet-unnamed
agency will be a “fundamentally new organization.”
“It’s
not business as usual,” he said.
The
restructuring pushes aside J-PAC’s scientific director, Tom Holland, who has
held the position for 19 years. As ProPublica and NPR detailed, Holland has had
nearly total control of each step in the identification process. That job will
now be handled by an Armed Forces Medical Examiner.
The move
appears meant to address the fact that sign-offs on the lab’s decisions were
little more than a rubber stamp. Putting a medical examiner at the head of the
process — someone who is scientifically knowledgeable — ensures “the
opportunity for rubber stamping doesn’t exist,” Lumpkin said.
Outsiders
and former J-PAC officials said the changes were promising.
“I think
the Armed Forces Medical Examiners are probably as well suited to do that as
anyone else I could think of,” said Mark Leney, a former JPAC anthropologist
who now teaches at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.
“Selecting
a scientific leader with a track record of working in an interdisciplinary
scientific environment, preferably someone who has managed a large group of
diverse technical and scientific experts before, will be key to making this
work,” Leney said.
Hagel
also announced a plan to develop public-private partnerships to “leverage
capabilities” of nongovernmental groups who work on recovering and identifying
MIAs – we which included last month in a rundown of potential ways
to fix the effort. “I think that would be a waste if we didn't do that,”
Lumpkin said.
ProPublica
and NPR also reported that under Holland’s leadership the lab rejected 96
percent of potential disinterments of unknown servicemembers, despite DNA
advances that could help lead to their identification.
Lumpkin
said that policy will be changed, though he had no specifics.
The
Pentagon is also considering a national campaign to collect DNA samples from
family members of the missing.
The
restructuring will create one case management system for all missing persons,
which should make it simpler to conduct research and keep families informed.
DPMO and JPAC, long embroiled in a turf war, have often fought over records,
duplicated trips to the National Archives, and done competing investigations.
“We’re
now taking concrete, enforceable steps to fix what has been a management
mess—but as with any effort to demand accountability, the devil will be in the
details and the implementation,” Senators Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., and Kelly
Ayotte, R-N.H., said in a statement. “So we’re looking forward to working with
the Pentagon to ensure the families of our missing heroes receive nothing less
than honesty and transparency in our efforts to recover their loved ones.”
Long
quote follows:
"It became clear that DNA analysis, though a crucial element in
determining identity, is not in itself sufficient to provide a definitive
identifiy for all these mortal remains. The principal reason is that so many bodies
were disposed of in mass graves. In secondary and tertiary mass graves in
particular - which are to be found all over BH [Bosnia Herzegovina] but
especially in relation to the genocide in Srebenica - the remains are
frequently commingled (Honig and Both 1997; Rhode 1998; Skinner et al. 2001).
In such cases it is possible only to match the DNA profile of samples from
bones or teeth with the DNA profile of blood samples provided by relatives. One
problem of the DNA-led identification systems are childless brothers, who
cannot be differentiated by DNA.
These
are the main reasons for the need to resort in each case, nothwithstanding a
positive DNA match, to other methods in order to arrive at a positive,
definitive and official identification for a given set of skeletal remains.
Every fact that is possible to ascertian must be taken into account (e.g.,
witness statements on the place and circumstances of death, statements by the
family on personal effects and clothing), and a careful comparison between the
ante-mortem [before death] and post-mortem [after death] data must be conducted
(Sarajlic and Skulk, pers. comm. 2005-9; Yazedjian et al. 2005). The basic
post-mortem element of this comparison is an anthropological analysis of the
moartal remains thta have been exhumed, to determine the biological profile
(Klonowski 1997).
Amila
Zukanovic et al., 2011:66 - The Routledge Handbook of Archaeological Human
Remains and Legislation: Bosnia and Herzegovina.
We need
to credit Paul Cole for his report or the IVC. He predicted correctly that JPAC
would fail and he was right. He did report that JPAC was dysfunctional because
of Tom Holland and he was right. He did call for a reorganization an he was
right again.
So the lab will be led by the Air Force and Tom Holland is looking for another
job? I believe that Tom Holland did not understand the mission of JPAC and did
not want to turn over lead of the mission to the people that did the DNA. He
tried to hold on to the system he built without DNA, and he punished people
that tried to help to improve and bring the JPAC Lab into the scientific
forefront. In my opinion he applied "shallow" science to try to hold
on to his failure. JPAC = FAILED
Thanks,
Secy Hagel for promising to create a modern, responsible "paradigm
shift" in identifying remains of American soldiers.
Two questions: How will the public know whether he's carrying out his promise?
And: Would it have happened if ProPublica had not carried out another of its
powerful investigations? Why did no SecDef, present or past, think it worth
dislodging the infamous timeserver Tom Holland despite decades of pitiful
appeals by family
The families won't let the efforts to go back to where we came from. Tom
Holland is gone and now real science can take over. Tom Holland fought for and
held on to the only thing he had and that is a phony "Forensic
anthropology" system that did not understand or agree with the science of
DNA. The reason Tom Holland held on so dearly was because the other commands
took the science or the DNA and made it theirs, Tom Holland had nothing.
We often wondered why would Tom Holland be so hard and cold to the science of
bringing them home. The earlier NPR said it all, "Tom did not want to lose
the autonomy and authority of the process", so he held them all up and
kept JPAC away from the DNA science because he did not want to lose the power,
pay, and prestige.
Eakins has a law suit that will deliver so results that would make it
impossible to go back to where we can from. Tom is finished with the science
but he got the scientist of the decade award or lifetime achievement award or
some phony award. I hope they had his resignation stapled to the award.
So now
what for Holland? Gone is his lab, gone is his certification for the lab and
gone is his power. How stupid can one man be? He hires Paul Cole to write the
report that brought down the house of cards.
Paul Cole wrote a report that described the house that Holland built out of
cards, and poof....it is gone. The biggest loser in this one is Major General
McKeague and Holland, gone are their command, soon to be replaced by honest men
of real integrity.
What about Paul Cole, well he admitted that he is Marcus Svedicus and now is
exposed to a huge liable law suit and violating the law by releasing
confidential government documents and privacy act information. How about the
rest of the Lab management? I think they are all fired, they are so gone.
Pity the fools that tried to hurt and punish their peers by writing the IVC
report to hurt people like Dr. G. and others, little did they know that the
knife cuts both ways. They were so arrogant to think they could cut off their
nose in spite of their own face. They tried to destroy J2 and destroyed
themselves in the process.
How
ironic that JPAC hires Paul Cole and his ICV report start the ball rolling to
shut down the CIL and the new lab. How ironic that Holland receives the Big
award in March and gets fired in April. Maybe this is all an April fool's joke.
Wait,
what? McCloskey's piece ran March 6 and Hagel announces a restructuring on
March 31 and McCloskey is breaking her arm patting herself on the back taking
credit? The change already was on the fast track when she wrote her
"expose" so why didn't she write that? The muck-rake was bogus.
Nicely timed and orchestrated but a fake. Shame on ProPublica!
McCloskey
also never mentioned reviews of JPAC (which certainly could stand an overhaul)
that are public record, which she never quoted. This is from today's Army
Times:
"A
series of internal investigations into JPAC and other defense offices involved
in recovering remains found repeated instances of shoddy science and
mishandling of remains. JPAC also admitted to holding phony repatriation
ceremonies that misled families about how the remains of their loved ones were
handled.
"The
so-called arrival ceremonies involved honor guards removing flag-draped coffins
from cargo planes on a tarmac, giving the impression the remains had arrived
that day. But military officials acknowledged that the aircraft used for the
ceremonies could not fly and the remains typically arrived days or weeks before
the ceremonies."
How did
she miss that? Stars and Stripes
Published:
October 10, 2013
An honor
detail comprised of joint military members prepares to escort the remains of
fallen servicemembers who died during World War II and the Vietnam War during
an arrival ceremony April 26, 2013, hosted by the U.S. Joint POW/MIA Accounting
Command.
SEAN
FUREY/U.S. NAVY
RELATED
WASHINGTON
— The Department of Defense unit charged with recovering servicemembers’
remains abroad has been holding phony “arrival ceremonies” for seven years,
with an honor guard carrying flag-draped coffins off of a cargo plane as though
they held the remains returning that day from old battlefields.
The
Pentagon acknowledged Wednesday that no honored dead were in fact arriving, and
that the planes used in the ceremonies often couldn’t even fly, and were towed
into position. The story was first reported on nbcnews.com.
The
ceremonies at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii are held up as a sign of
the nation’s commitment to its fallen warriors. They have been attended by
veterans and families of MIAs, led to believe that they were witnessing the
return of Americans killed in World War II, Vietnam and Korea.
In a
statement sent to NBC News, the Pentagon wrote:
“Part of
the ceremony involves symbolically transferring the recovered remains from an
aircraft to a vehicle for follow-on transportation to the lab. Many times,
static aircraft are used for the ceremonies, as operational requirements
dictate flight schedules and aircraft availability. This transfer symbolizes
the arrival of our fallen servicemembers.
“It is
important to note that recovered remains ceremoniously transferred from the
aircraft to the [bus] have been in the lab undergoing forensic analysis to
determine identity. When remains first arrive in Hawaii, JPAC cannot confirm if
the remains are those of an American servicemember.”
NBC
writes that the ceremonies have been known among some of the military and
civilian staff at the base as The Big Lie.
The
Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, or JPAC, has come under intense scrutiny in
recent months after two scathing
reports were released this summer.
In July,
The Associated Press ran a story exposing a 2012 internal JPAC report that
found the agency to be “acutely dysfunctional” with some missions that amounted
to little more than paid vacations for staffers.
A second
investigation released weeks later by the Government Accountability Office
found that Pentagon efforts to account for fallen troops missing overseas were
inefficient and in need of overhaul, according to congressional sources.
In 2010,
lawmakers mandated JPAC to reach an annual goal of recovering at least 200
fallen troops from overseas battlefields by 2015, but it had failed to build
the capacity to do so, the GAO found. Currently the Hawaii-based command
averages less than 70 individuals per year.
Much of
the inefficiency found by the GAO researchers comes down to a turf war between
JPAC and the Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office, which shares
some of the same responsibilities, Congressional sources said.
The show
According
to the NBC report, here’s what the audience was shown:
A C-17
military transport aircraft was parked, its ramp down, outside a hangar at the
base. After generals and dignitaries were introduced, a military chaplain said
a prayer, the audience sang “The Star-Spangled Banner,” and “Taps” was played.
Then an honor guard carried flag-draped transfer cases, which look like
coffins, down the ramp and placed them in the back of blue buses, which were
driven away.
The
emcee thanked the audience for “welcoming them home.” The script continued,
“After removal from the aircraft, the remains will be taken to the Joint
POW/MIA Accounting Command’s Central Identification Laboratory. There, JPAC
scientists will begin the identification process.”
Citing
eyewitnesses and photographs taken behind the scenes, NBC wrote that what
actually happened is very different:
Before 6
a.m., the honor guard assembled behind the JPAC headquarters on the base. They
loaded transfer cases onto the buses and drove to the hangar.
The
honor guard loaded the transfer cases into the pre-positioned C-17, then
rehearsed for the ceremony. They then returned to the plane, and waited.
The
public was allowed in for the 9 a.m. ceremony: invited politicians, media,
families of the missing and veterans. Employees from JPAC were bused over to
fill out the crowd.
Then the
show began, with tears and salutes as the remains were marched to the buses,
then driven off to the lab to “begin the identification process.”
Jesse
Baker, an 81-year-old Air Force veteran of World War II and Korea living in
Honolulu, told NBC News that he has been to more than 50 of these ceremonies.
He said he’s always been under the impression that the plane had just arrived
carrying recovered remains.
Baker
tried to make sense of why the DOD would work so hard to trick him and other
veterans. “That’s disturbing. I don’t know when they stopped being honest and
switched over to this Mickey Mouse, but whoever did it, I hope they find him a
new job somewhere.”
The anti-American sentiment among radical Islamists in Libya is running at a
fevor pitch, as the kidnapping and killing of Americans is advocated by the
grave robbing Salafists, who will certainly attack and desecrate the clearly
marked graves of the Americans buried at Old Protestant Cemetery in Tripoli,
especially the remains of the American naval heroes of the USS Intrepid.
Now an
emergency mission must be undertaken by an expert forensic archaeology team to
excavate and repatriate the remains of these Americans before they are
destroyed.
News
Item from Tripoli:
Libyan
militants have called for the kidnapping of American citizens in Tripoli and
for attacks on gas pipelines, ships and planes to avenge the capture of a
senior al Qaeda figure by U.S. special forces in Libya last week, Reuters
reported.
Nazih
al-Ragye, better known by the cover name Abu Anas al-Liby, is a suspect in the
1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania that killed 224
civilians.
He was
snatched on the streets of Tripoli on Saturday and is being held aboard a Navy
ship in the Mediterranean Sea, U.S. officials said.
Messages
posted by Libyan jihadists on the Internet and monitored by the SITE service
included a Facebook page called "Benghazi is Protected by its
People".
It told
Libyans to close off entrances and exits to the capital and kidnap citizens of
the United States and its allies in order to use them to bargain for the
release of imprisoned militants. It also urged them to damage pipelines
exporting gas to Europe, and target ships and planes.
"Libya
today is still a place of disbelief that is ruled by something other than the
Shariah of Allah; thus, there is no security for disbelievers there," the
message said.
In
another message posted on forums and social media, a group called "the
Revolutionaries of Benghazi - al-Bayda, Derna" condemned the al Qaeda
leader's capture.
It
accused Libya's leaders of having prior knowledge of the operation, although
Prime Minister Ali Zeidan said at the weekend that the government had asked the
United States to explain the raid.
The
group vowed to fight "everyone who betrayed his country and involved
himself in this conspiracy. We say that this shameful act will cost the Libyan
government a lot and it will be as you will see and not as you hear."
Since
Muammar Gaddafi's fall, Islamist militants, including groups linked to al
Qaeda, have used Libya to smuggle out weapons and as a base for fighters.
North
Africa is home to Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and other Islamist affiliates
who either cooperate with the network or sympathize with its ideology.
Liby is
wanted by the FBI, which gives his age as 49 and had offered a $5 million
reward for help in capturing him.
He was
indicted in 2000 along with 20 other al Qaeda suspects including Osama bin
Laden and current global leader of the militant network, Ayman al-Zawahri.
