Department of Defense Instruction 2310.5:

“Accounting for Missing Persons”

DPMO announced in January that the Undersecretary of Defense for policy had signed the Department of Defense Instruction 2310.5 (DoDI), which sets forth uniform procedures for the determination of the status of missing persons lost as a result of hostile action.

The Missing Persons Act requires the Secretary of Defense to do certain things:

1. Establish a DoD office to be responsible for DoD policy relating to missing persons;

2. Establish policies throughout DoD for personnel recovery;

3. Establish uniform DoD procedures for ’the determination of the status of missing persons, and the systematic, comprehensive, and timely collection, analysis, review, dissemination, and periodic update of information related to such persons’.

DoD completed the DoDI in satisfaction of the third requirement.

The document is 98 pages long. It implements policy, assigns responsibility, and prescribes procedures regarding missing persons. We have not yet thoroughly reviewed this Instruction to consider its implications. Comment on the full document will come at a later time.

One issue has emerged, though. We have mentioned it in previous issues of the Update & Review. It relates to our request that DPMO notify families when Government Officials find relevant classified information about unnamed American POWs that’s going to be withheld.

A hypothetical example of such a document might read: “We have proof positive that ten American POWs were taken to China and are alive today”. The requirement to inform families of the withholding of such information is found in section 1506 of the Missing Persons Act, although the wording of the provision is ambiguous. The chairman of the House Military Personnel Committee wrote a letter explaining Congressional intent in the provision, but we have not been successful in resolving the problem.

For more than two years, DPMO has taken the position that the Missing Persons Act does not require them to give notice to families unless a man is identified or referenced in the document. DPMO also expressed concern about getting people’s hopes up.

In February, counsel for DPMO gave the Coalition a letter from DPMO head Bob Jones that was offered as a solution to our request. Unfortunately, the proposed solution did not actually address our concerns. We have sent a response letter to Mr. Jones and are waiting to hear from him. Meanwhile, we have raised the matter with members of Congress and will seek a legislative mandate that, hopefully, will resolve the situation in no uncertain terms.

The DoDI can be found on the Internet at <http://web7.whs.osd.mil/corres.htm>. Once at this site, to access the DoDI, click on “INSTRUCTIONS” under the “DoD Issuances” column and scroll down to “DoDI 2310.5".

To access the associated forms, click on “LINKS TO OTHER DOCUMENTS” under the “Information” column, then click on “DoD Forms”. Next click on “Department of Defense Forms” and then scroll down to the appropriate form (DD2809, DD2910, DD2811, or DD2812). There will also be a link at the DoDI web site to the DoD forms contained in the DoDI.

Coalition Headquarters
P.O. Box 7152
Roanoke, VA 24019-0152
info@coalitionoffamilies.org