A Pentagon release on May 11 confirmed an earlier news report that DOD analysts had identified the remains of an airman missing in action from World War II as those of Army Air Forces 1st Lt. Archibald Kelly of Detroit. Kelly was the navigator on a B-24J Liberator on a mission to bomb oil fields at Ploesti, Romania, struck by enemy fire on its return to its base in Italy. Eight of the 10 crewmen bailed out before the bomber crashed about 430 miles southwest of Ploesti. The rear gunner had been killed on the aircraft and his body recovered later. Another crewman saw Kelly bail out, but Kelly struck a rock cliff face. In 2005, specialists from the DOD POW/Missing Personnel Office interviewed residents of Croatia near the crash site and found one who recalled villagers buried an airman who had hit the rocks. In 2006, a DOD team excavated the site.
As the Space Force prepares to field new fleets of satellites that can track moving targets in the air and on the ground, it’s working to ensure it has the organizational structures in place to onboard and operate those systems.
