The Star-Advertiser recently reported a change-of-command at the Joint POW/MIA Command (JPAC) at Hickam Air Force Base.
As a one-time forensic scientist who helped develop the software later used for the preliminary identifications of victims killed by the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, I enjoyed a tour of JPAC a few years ago. We learned that JPAC teams work at high altitudes in Nepal seeking remains of flight crews killed in World War II crashes in the Himalayas. We learned of digs for WWII-vintage remains on deserted Pacific atolls. Intriguing stuff.
Once remains are recovered, the next step is to link with living relatives. This serves two purposes. The more important one is to inform survivors that loved ones’ remains have been found. The second is to match victims’ DNA to blood relatives to make the identifications.
We were told that Vietnam-era operations are essentially complete. So instead of concentrating on recent conflicts, JPAC expends enormous resources attempting to locate remains in some of the world’s most challenging geographies. (An aside: We no longer fight wars where we don’t recover casualties; future JPAC missions are evaporating.) And that’s the rub. JPAC largely seeks the remains of American heroes dead for 60-75 years or more. Not surprising, when it comes to casualties that old, it’s often difficult or impossible to find living blood relatives. Even when found, octogenarian and nonagenarian survivors are long-reconciled that their loved ones didn’t survive Korea or WWII. Other kin are too young to have known the dead service members. Indeed, while poking around recently at the Civil War Antietam Battlefield near Sharpsburg, Md., I half-expected to see a JPAC team excavating there.
I don’t disparage the work done by JPAC. But the cost is enormous. Our government runs trillion-dollar deficits yet persistently funds non-essential governmental operations like JPAC.
The need to identify increasingly ancient remains is becoming irrelevant in light of JPAC’s seminal mission, namely to "bring home" remains of American dead to survivors. When survivors no longer care or exist, how much is this worth? By my estimates, JPAC’s annual costs (including deferred and infrastructure costs) total between $500 million and a billion dollars.
After my tour, I shared my concerns with high-ranking military personnel and elected officials. A four-star general told me he appreciated my logic, but JPAC was "protected." By this he meant that JPAC’s strong political support makes it "off-limits" to funding cuts.
Those whom my comments anger should know that I know the benefits of JPAC. These include the advancement of science and providing good jobs. And to be fair, JPAC occasionally identifies a casualty — usually ancient. Others may argue that my cost estimates are high, but they may report amounts that exclude some of JPAC’s real costs.
Happily, the Star-Advertiser reported that JPAC is now required to identify 200 sets of remains every year ("JPAC’s next isle-grown leader formally installed," Star-Advertiser, Nov. 1). On the tour I asked how many remains had been identified in the previous year. The answer was one. Certainly that year was likely an anomaly, but the question remains: How much should be spent to identify American casualties whom no one remembers? If, as the Star-Advertiser story reported, JPAC identified 80 sets of remains last year and JPAC’s funding is at the low end of my estimates, each identification cost at least $6 million. This amount is too high to identify casualties no one alive even remembers. But until our legislators get serious about wasteful spending, the next time I’m at Antietam Battlefield, I’ll look harder for a JPAC team.
