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U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Mark Spindler, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency deputy director, and U.S. Army Sgt. Maj. Michael Swam, DPAA senior enlisted advisor, carry a wreath as part of a memorial service held on Joint Base Pearl Harbor Hickam, Apr. 7 to honor men killed in a helicopter crash on Apr. 7, 2001 in Quang Binh, Vietnam. The 16 men were on an advanced party as part of a personnel recovery joint field activity. The DPAA's mission to provide the fullest possible accounting of missing personnel to their families and the nation. (DoD photo by MC1 Vladimir Potapenko/Released)

April 7, 2016

DPAA Remembers Fallen Comrades on 15th Anniversary of Helicopter Crash

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency held a memorial ceremony today on Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam to honor 16 U.S. and Vietnamese personnel who lost their lives in a helicopter crash while

March 18, 2016

Next Generation DNA Sequencing

March 18, 2016 — DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. -- When American biologist James Watson and English physicist Francis Crick first discovered the double helix in 1953, they could not have imagined the huge strides DNA technology would take in just a few short years. From the 1977 development of the Sanger Sequencing technique by Frederick Sanger to the 1996 birth of Dolly the Sheep, the first ever cloned animal, to the 2003 completion of the Human Genome Project, which sequenced the human genome to 99.9 percent accuracy, scientists have continually improved upon their methods and techniques to lead us to the DNA Sequencing of today.

A photo display shows Col. Warren Anderson, a pilot missing from the Vietnam War, during a government update brief held in Honolulu, Jan. 25. The Defense Prisoner of War/Missing in Action Accounting Agency hosts meetings around the country every year to brief families of missing service members.

Feb. 9, 2016

Families of missing Air Force pilots connect in Hawaii

Honolulu — HONOLULU-- Natalie Anderson Rauch remembers her dad as a funny man who loved to make everyone laugh and was the life of the party. She remembers living in England as a child and trips to the beach with her family. Beyond that, her memories are nearly nonexistent. Rauch was eight years old when her father’s plane went missing in North Vietnam.

The Agency Seal

Feb. 1, 2016

DPAA Reaches FOC Status

Feb. 1, 2016 — In the year since being established as a Defense Agency on Jan. 1, 2015, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) has accomplished a critical milestone, reaching “full operational capability” or “FOC” on Jan. 8, 2016. This declaration signifies the completion of the reorganization of the Department of Defense’s legacy past conflict accounting organizations into a single, unified defense agency.

Local workers secure frames for a wet screening station at a site that will be excavated by a recovery team from the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Dien Bien province, Vietnam, Nov. 13, 2015. The DPAA mission is to provide the fullest possible accounting for our missing personnel to their families and the nation. (DoD photo by Staff Sgt. Kathrine Dodd, USAF/RELEASED)

Jan. 28, 2016

DPAA Returns to Dien Bien Province

January 14, 2016 — A specialized recovery team comprised of 15 joint service members and a forensic archeologist resumed excavation operations for the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) at a rice paddy in Dien Bien province, Vietnam

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Public Affairs Contact Information


Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency PAO
Washington, D.C.
2300 Defense Pentagon
Attn: Outreach and Communications
Washington, D.C. 20301-2300
Email: dpaa.ncr.oc.mbx.public-affairs@mail.mil