Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) is an agency within the U.S. Department of Defense whose mission is to recover unaccounted Department of Defense personnel listed as prisoners of war (POW) or missing in action (MIA) from designated past conflicts, from countries around the world.

History


The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency was formed on January 30, 2015, as the result of a merger of the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, the Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office, and parts of the United States Air Force's Life Sciences Lab. Scientific laboratories are maintained at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, and Joint Base Pearl Harbor–Hickam, Hawaii. Currently, DPAA is in a cooperative agreement with The Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Inc., which provides operational support during worldwide recovery operations. Following the 2023 wildfires in Maui, the agency assisted in identifying victims' remains.