Arlington, VA –
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency’s Partnership and Innovation Directorate recently hit a pair of milestones that showcase its ability to not only act as multiplier for the agency’s mission to account for missing personnel, but also strengthen the agency’s reputation as being on the forefront of science and research.
The directorate began with three partners just a few years ago and now works with more than 100 active partners, who recently completed 250 field missions and started more than 100 research projects.
“With more than 81,000 missing personnel from past conflicts, the Defense Department could never build an agency large enough to tackle this problem set alone,” said Fern Sumpter Winbush, DPAA principal deputy director. “Our ability to partner with leading scientific and historical research institutions worldwide amplifies our mission to bring answers to families about their missing loved one.”
A key aspect to the success of the partnership program is its global appeal. Currently, there are 25 foreign partners on board.
“Foreign partners often can offer lower costs when they are located closer to sites and often are able to assist with facilitating host nation communications regarding permitting, obtaining owner permissions, and more,” said Rocky Gillette, PI director.
Innovation is also key to success of the directorate. Samples of success included finding a suitable partner for a complex crash site that required extensive engineering, building a barge in an inland waterway, and utilizing coffer dams for a challenging wetlands site on an island off the coast of Italy.
In addition, the directorate has taken the agency to new depths in the rising field of underwater archaeology by overseeing the deepest underwater recovery effort ever at a depth more than 300 feet.
Another vital element to the partnership program is the nationwide Hub & Spoke research program which now has 17 fellows at 16 museums and academic institutions across the United States.
“Our research partners likewise bring experience, resources, and creative approaches that can enhance the Agency’s capacity and capabilities to conduct case progression and foundational research,” Gillette noted. “Most of our partners utilize researchers who have postgraduate degrees in military history and related fields, and they have proven adept at providing research support that is responsive to the Agency’s needs, effectively serving as a force multiplier to DPAA researchers and analysts.”
Research partners authored 372 case summaries, 162 case narratives and researched over 20,352 unaccounted-for cases.
A final key element of the directorate is the innovation program, which acts as an accelerator for seeking novel and effective technology, processes, and equipment to enhance the agency’s accounting mission capacity and capabilities.
Under this program the agency is conducting 10 studies to test, verify, and validate innovative solutions for the agency. One example includes the Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS), which is testing the use of a handheld laser device to detect whether material from an excavation site is possibly human osseous material.
“We have developed a strategic and collaborative innovation program that builds on and enhances the innovation culture within the agency,” said Dr. Jesse Stephen, the new PI Chief of Innovation observed. “We are soliciting innovative ideas and input from our subject matter experts within DPAA and are pursuing creative proposals for new approaches, technology, equipment, and processes provided by entities outside the agency to be sure we bring to the Agency the best tools available to help in our accounting mission.”
Gillette summed up the progress of the directorate as part of the obligation the nation owes it fallen heroes who never returned home from war.
“This is a period of amazing developments that offer great potential for the agency – the key is to pursue the most effective new innovations in the most efficient manner,” Gillette said. “This we owe to the families of the missing, and we are committed to that goal.”