The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency commenced operations with the merger of the Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office and the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, announced the Pentagon. “Today marks an important step in establishing the new agency and the continued commitment to the families of service members who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country and remain unaccounted for,” said Christine Wormuth, undersecretary of defense for policy, on the Jan. 30 standup. Rear Adm. Mike Franken is serving as the agency’s interim director. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel last March announced the Pentagon’s intent to create the new agency so that there would be a single, accountable organization with comprehensive oversight of the Pentagon’s past-conflict personnel accounting resources, research, and operations. The new organization combines the DPMO, the JPAC, and select functions of the Air Force’s Life Sciences Equipment Lab.
U.S. Southern Command recently announced its first lethal strike on a suspected narco-trafficking vessel in two months, and the first under a newly formed permanent counter-cartel task force. The U.S. is also reportedly planning to transfer MQ-9 drones to Colombia to bolster its counter-cartel efforts.