News-Info-Alerts

To: ALL

From: Andi Wolos & Bob Necci

(POW-MIA InterNetwork)

Re: Some More of the Good Guys

Date: March 21, 2001

"LIFE SCIENCES ARTIFACT SECTION

The Life Sciences Artifact Section (LSAS) operates as an adjunct department of the Life Sciences Equipment Laboratory (LSEL), and is located in the 311th Human Systems Wing at Brooks AFB, Texas. The specialized mission of the Life Sciences Artifact Section is to provide scientific support to various organizations within the Department of Defense, that are involved in obtaining the fullest possible accounting of American personnel who remain missing from various military conflicts dating back to World War II. Such organizations include the Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office, the Joint Task Force-Full Accounting, and the US Army Central Identification Laboratory in Hawaii.

The Life Sciences Artifact Section mission evolved as a result of successful studies being performed upon equipment artifacts, that from 1988 had been returned to the Life Sciences Equipment Laboratory from sites of military action in South East Asia. This equipment artifact category can be broadly described as encompassing all forms of: military uniforms, flight ensembles and maintenance apparel; aircraft fixed or ejection seats, along with other related escape devices; various types of parachute systems; air, land, and water environment survival aids (like locator beacons and rafts); and other general equipment employed by military personnel for emergency or combat theater escape, evasion and rescue. Concurrent with present day Laboratory studies accomplished upon such equipment, which frequently provides strong supporting evidence to that derived from medical or pathological findings (as to the presence or actions of personnel involved in aircrashes or similar destructive situations), it was discovered that these studies could likewise aid in the accountability of people at historic sites, especially in such instances when no human remains were found.

In 1993 the Joint Chiefs of Staff designated the LSEL as a support agency of the Joint Task Force-Full Accounting, and following the appropriation of funds by Congress, the Life Sciences Artifact Section was activated on 5 April 1994. The LSAS is currently manned by a cadre of specialists who have extensive backgrounds in numerous types of life sciences equipment deployed by the American military Services, and some hold veteran status. Through use of the comprehensive technical library and large collection of equipment reference exhibits maintained by the Laboratory, along with support from other members of its staff, the analysts initially endeavor to match a submitted artifact to the type of equipment and specific system from which it originated, identify its Service applicability, as well as the time period it was used. Further testing can then be applied, often employing state-of-the-art equipment, along with the full resources of other laboratories and specialists at the Air Logistics Center, to enable artifact identification to be confirmed. Finally, all equipment and scientific test results are translated into determinations about accountability of the missing personnel. Accordingly, an identified artifact (like a piece of aircrew flight suit) can help reconstruct the pattern and type of its host structure, reveal information about which military Service utilized it, disclose other details about when it was used and with what aircraft until, along with other artifacts and damage assessments, provide an overall image of what the evidence supports about its previous user and their probable status. Based upon such work the Life Sciences Artifact Section and staff are totally dedicated to the resolution of the POW/MIA issue, and to supporting other agencies involved in this highest national priority endeavor, to fully account for the nation's missing personnel.


LIFE SCIENCES EQUIPMENT LABORATORY

In 1983 the United States Air Force established the Life Support Equipment Investigation Laboratory, in a single room of an engineering building at Kelly AFB, Texas. Its function was to investigate problems associated with life support equipment, and resolve issues related to Air Force mishaps. More than 15 years later its mission support continues expanding, to meet taskings from the Department of Defense, the Armed Services, and those of allied foreign nations. In 1992, to more accurately reflect its increasing responsibilities, the facility was renamed the Life Sciences Equipment Laboratory. Currently, the Laboratory has relocated from Kelly AFB to Brooks AFB and occupies some 20,000 square feet in Building 578 at the 311th Human Systems Wing Program Office. It is a totally unique laboratory within the DoD, and based upon comments received from its numerous international visitors, with regard to the equipment studies and mission diversity performed, it is in all likelihood the only laboratory of its type anywhere in the world.

The Laboratory conducts investigations, studies, and instructional programs related to a very broad range of military systems, which are defined as life sciences equipment. This category incorporates most variants of flight apparel, military uniforms, and combat infantry gear (including weapons up to .50 caliber); aircraft fixed or ejection seats; most forms of parachute and aerodynamic decelerators; life rafts and personnel flotation systems; avionic communication and visual signaling devices; as well as other specialized equipment ranging from body armor to personal identification mediums. Basically, such equipment spans all the man-mounted or adjacently attached systems that have permitted American military personnel to successfully perform their duties in both peace and war, while operating on land, sea, and in the air from 1941 to date, and endure such ordeals. To accomplish its functions, the Laboratory maintains hundreds of reference exhibits, as diverse as World War II infantry equipment, U.S. Navy flight ensembles from the Korean conflict, U.S. Army nursing apparel from the Vietnam period, a complete F-111 aircraft crew escape module, historical variations of military dog tags and blood chits, as well as present day night vision devices.

Currently, the Laboratory's function encompass: assisting aircraft Mishap Investigation Boards; technical training of U.S. Military, Federal, and allied foreign nation personnel in life sciences equipment investigating techniques; engineering and scientific upkeep of all life support equipment used by the USAF; and acting as the DoD focal point for all life sciences equipment artifact studies, as part of this Nation's endeavor to resolve the status of personnel who still remain unaccounted for from this country's periods of military conflict. Within this context the Laboratory supports some 15-20 major Class A mishap investigations each year, on the full spectrum of aircraft operated by the USAF, and since 1983 has assisted in over 300 Air Force and allied foreign nation mishap investigations. Each year the Laboratory also conducts some 20 classes of instruction, most are of a 2-day duration, for approximately 350 aircrew, medical, and enlisted personnel. These classes provide theoretical and practical instruction in life sciences equipment and aircrash investigation, and to date have trained over 3500 personnel in these subjects. Other work involves the accomplishment of test programs, repair formulation, and failure analysis, for research and development projects being conducted by the Human Systems Wing at Brooks AFB, or mission sustainment of the thousands items of life support equipment under cognizance of the Human Systems Support Manager, at Brooks AFB. Finally, in 1993 the Laboratory was tasked by Congress and the Joint Chiefs of Staff to become a support agency of the Joint Task Force-Full Accounting, and subsequently other agencies like the Defense Prisoner of War and Missing Personnel Office. This resulted in establishment of an adjunct Life Sciences Artifact Section, which is manned by specialists whose work involves the accountability of missing Americans, from conflicts like the Indochina war theater, Korean conflict, and Cold War. Although the mission coverage is complex andchallenging, the staff remain dedicated to enhancing aviation safety, sustaining and improving this Nation's military resources, and accurately resolving the status of our missing personnel for their families."