Plans to overhaul POW/MIA command necessary, overdue

For far too long, DNA technology has not been the U.S. military’s primary means of testing bone fragments thought to be the remains of soldiers "missing in action" from World War II, Korea and Vietnam. The Hawaii-based Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command had a budget of $89 million in 2013, but the remains of only 60 service members were identified that year. At that rate, it would take nearly 600 years to identify the roughly 35,000 Americans whose remains are considered recoverable, and to bring some measure of peace to families who have waited decades to learn their loved ones’ fates.

So it’s encouraging that the complete overhaul of the embattled military organization that searches for, recovers and identifies missing American war dead recognizes the importance of high-tech identification methods. The changes are long overdue, and come after scathing reports that painted efforts by JPAC and related Pentagon agencies as dysfunctional, duplicative, inefficient and wasteful.

The ultimate victims of this ineptitude, of course, are the families of the missing. There are 83,000 Americans unaccounted for from conflicts around the globe; the remains of 25,000 to 35,000 are estimated to be recoverable. So many service members have been mourned for decades, but never properly laid to rest. These service members’ families deserve closure.

The overhaul diminishes JPAC’s authority and moves oversight from the U.S. Pacific Command to civilian control at a new federal defense agency. JPAC, the Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office in Washington, D.C., and parts of the Air Force Life Sciences Equipment Laboratory in San Antonio all are being reassigned to the undersecretary of defense for policy, who will oversee a new agency that integrates the groups. Acting Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Michael Lumpkin pledges a "paradigm shift" away from "outdated, institutionalized thinking."

Those are welcome words. But given the history, families are looking for action. The use of DNA as a primary identification tool must be implemented quickly, along with the promised centralized database and case management system containing all service members’ information.

Such a streamlined, high-tech approach, coupled with the more focused authority of the new agency, will speed up identifications and provide waiting families more consistent information and updates. Given the rivalrous history of JPAC and the related agencies, it is doubly important to communicate openly with families during the overhaul. There are sure to be bumps in the road as the changes are implemented over the next 18 months.

It makes sense to base the new defense agency at the $82 million JPAC headquarters and laboratory being finished now at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, although the official decision has yet to be announced. The new agency needs some presence in Washington, but much of the work remains to be done here. It would be yet another example of wasteful inefficiency if the new Oahu complex is not fully utilized.

The streamlined chain of command and other organizational changes that Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced this week should go a long way to improve identification efforts long hampered by weak leadership, infighting and disparate efforts. Each of these concrete changes must be fully enforced, to spur a change in mindset that matches the updated organizational structure.

Too much time has been wasted already. The families of the missing don’t have hundreds of years to wait.