POW/MIA Identification Agencies Combined

The Pentagon’s two chief agencies charged with locating and identifying prisoners of war and those missing in action are consolidating, at the request of Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel. The new agency, as of yet still unnamed, will combine assets of the Defense Prisoner of War Missing Personnel Office and Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command. “By consolidating functions, we will resolve issues of duplication and inefficiency and build a stronger, more transparent and more responsive organization,” Hagel said. Congress had mandated that the Pentagon be able to identify as many as 200 remains per year by 2015. Last year, Hagel said, only 70 sets of remains were identified.