Past Conflict Accounting

The United States has made a sacred promise to its citizens that it will bring home with dignity all those who have served. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) is responsible for determining the fate of our missing and, where possible, recov

This program facilitates efforts to provide the fullest possible accounting for missing Department of Defense personnel from past conflicts and to provide answers to their families and the nation by developing new and creative approaches to research and analysis, field work, and other accounting activities.

Applicants can be any private entity. A private entity is defined as any self-sustaining, non-Federal person or organization, established, operated, and controlled by any individual(s) acting outside the scope of any official capacity as officers, employees, or agents of the Federal Government

Beneficiaries of an assistance award can be any private entity which is defined as any self-sustaining, non-Federal person or organization, established, operated, and controlled by any individual(s) acting outside the scope of any official capacity as officers, employees, or agents of the Federal Government.

Pursuant to 10 USC 1501, the Secretary of Defense designated DPAA as the "single organization within the Department of Defense to have responsibility for Department matters relating to missing persons from past conflicts, including accounting for missing persons and persons whose remains have not been recovered from the conflict in which they were lost." 10 USC 1501a provides the Secretary of Defense with authority to "enter into a cooperative agreement with, or make a grant to, a private entity for purposes related to the support of the activities of the designated Defense Agency." The Secretary of Defense delegated his 10 USC 1501a grant and cooperative agreement authority to DPAA to support DPAA's mission of locating and recovering the remains of missing persons from past conflicts, identifying those remains when possible, and providing answers to the families of the missing and the nation. Therefore, assistance must for purposes related to supporting efforts to account for missing Department of Defense personnel from past conflicts and provide answers to their families and the nation. Examples of programs of assistance include supporting universities, academic institutions, research institutions, non-profit organizations, and other non-federal entity in developing novel or new techniques approaches, procedures and techniques related to: • Conducting terrestrial archaeological field work in a more efficient and cost effective manner to assist in recovering remains of the missing and other socially important objectives; • Engaging in underwater remote sensing and surveys to improve the ability to detect, for example underwater aircraft crash locations; and • Developing new historical research and analysis capabilities, data mining and document archives/search methodologies to increase the effectiveness of identifying critical historical information that can contribute to providing information to families of the missing as well as contributing to other social goals.

The period of time the assistance will be available will generality be one year but this will be specified in the pertinent announcement as well as in the terms and conditions of the award. Likewise, any restrictions placed on the time permitted to spend the money awarded will be specified in the announcement and the award. Method of awarding/releasing assistance: quarterly unless otherwise specified in the announcement/award.

Evaluation criteria will be set forth in the announcement. Typical criteria will include: (1) overall technical and scientific merit; (2) potential contribution to stated goals and objectives identified in the announcement; (3) applicants capabilities, experience and demonstrated expertise; (4) plans and resource to accomplish the pertinent objectives stated in the announcement; and (5) cost realism.

Applicant should submit proposals as provided for in the relevant announcement. Merit based procedures will be used for award decisions and evaluators will use the evaluation criteria set forth in the announcement to determine if the application meets the pertinent requirements and merits an award.

A representative range required to approve or disapprove a proposal is 90 to 120 days, however, awards relating to higher priority projects will generally take less time.

Provisions applicable to renewal or extension procedures will be set out in the pertinent announcement.

Any appeal should be submitted to the DPAA Headquarters designated Point of Contact for consideration by the appointed Senior Executive Service appellate authority.