The Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO), located near Washington, D.C., was established in 1993, after the U.S. Senate called for the Department of Defense to form a single office to oversee and manage POW/MIA issues.
On behalf of the Secretary of Defense, DPMO works to limit the loss or capture of Americans who are serving abroad, and to bring home those who are captured or killed while serving our country.
"Keeping the Promise" is DPMO's motto, which refers to the promise made by the U.S. Government to recover and account for missing Americans. It requires a worldwide effort to ensure progress toward achieving the fullest possible accounting of our missing servicemembers.
DPMO's mission requires a team of more than 100 civilian and military personnel who have expertise in the following areas: (1) Plans, policy, control and oversight; (2) Gathering and analyzing case-related information; and (3) informative and timely outreach to families and the public.
We acknowledge that we will not be able to resolve all cases due to the horrific realties of war, yet our efforts continue to achieve new success every day.
2012 Outlook
In 2012, the Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) is looking forward to an acceleration of remarkable work performed by members of the personnel accounting community. We could not succeed without the terrific support and encouragement from the families of our missing heroes, and we appreciate being able to respond to your letters and meeting with you at the Family Updates held throughout the country.
In Washington D.C., DPMO now has four research and analytical divisions to support analysis and investigation for the different past wars since World War II through the Iraq Theater of Operations. Around the world, DPMO and the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) teams are proactively conducting investigations and recovery operations. We are operating throughout Europe, our activities continue to receive support in China, investigations and remains recovery operations in Southeast Asia continue to expand with the addition of Joint Vietnamese led Recovery Teams, we will soon begin recovery operations in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea), and there is renewed hope for operations to begin again in India and Burma.
Milestones that we are looking forward to in 2012 include:- DPMO will modernize our records and methods of research with the Federal Case Management System (FCMS), which will improve information sharing throughout the entire accounting community; we will digitize all of the X-Files for unknowns and in partnership with the Army; and we will fully implement a program at Ft. Belvoir to digitize the Individual Deceased Personnel Files (IDPFs) for missing personnel
- The Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory (AFDIL) will move into their new and modern facility at Dover AFB this year.
- The Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) will start the development of a second forensic laboratory that will be located in the continental United States, and they have begun hiring processes to increase their overall operating capacity. Construction of a new JPAC facility in Hawaii is also currently underway.
- The Life Science Equipment Laboratory (LSEL) will continue to provide JPAC with scientific analysis of aircraft and equipment found at loss sites in Southeast Asia.
- The U.S.-Russia Joint Commission on POW/MIAs will meet and will once again be a path forward for increased cooperation between the two countries.
While all seems to be moving in the right direction, we will have challenges and sometimes differences in views, but we are together in our common cause and common goal.