The February-March 2000 joint field activity (JFA) in Savannakhet province was an attempt to bring to closure a poignant story. In 1969 a McDonnell RF-4 reconnaissance aircraft was shot down near Xepone. The reconnaissance officer ejected safely and was rescued, but the pilot was never found. He was last seen attached to his ejection seat. Thus the key to resolving this case was to find either human remains or physical evidence — such as pieces of an ejection seat — that would pinpoint the crash site. In addition to bone fragments, search crews look for dog tags, personal and life-support items (life vest, parachute, boots, etc.), clothing and flight gear (flight suit, buckles). Even the smallest piece of debris may be the key to finding human remains.

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Each Southeast Asian country has its own policy for JTF-FA operations. Time and personnel strength for the Savannakhet recovery operation were limited by strict rules worked out jointly by U.S. and Laotian officials. In Laos each joint field activity operation is limited to a maximum of 30 days, and no more than 40 Americans are permitted in any one JFA iteration. JFA excavation operations in Laos must be conducted in geographic order from north to south, with the entire country covered before resuming operations elsewhere. In contrast, research investigations, which involve the search for witnesses and efforts to pinpoint the location where a missing American was last seen, can take place in any geographical area. Despite these constraints, Detachment 3 has been able to operate effectively. In 1973 there were 565 Americans missing in action in Laos. As of January 2001 that total was down to 420.

‘There are going to be some cases that will never be resolved because of various factors,’ Colonel Gahagan said, ‘but we are making steady progress.’ The small detachment averages five 30-day recovery operations each year. The advance research effort, coordination, planning and preparation for each operation are formidable tasks for such a small group. And the mission has become more difficult as the years pass.

‘We are in a real race for time,’ Gahagan explained. ‘Family members of our missing servicemen are aging. Witnesses on the ground are aging, too, and that may be even more critical to our success. And here in Laos, because of the soil conditions, human remains and physical evidence deteriorate very rapidly.’

The Savannakhet operation is a good example of U.S.–Laos cooperation. Laotian officials assisted in locating witnesses and in pinpointing the best possible search site. The entire American-Laotian team deployed by Lao air force helicopters — Russian Mil Mi-17s. Detachment 3 also has one full-time dedicated Lao helicopter, and the operation is augmented by a New Zealand charter company that provides additional helicopter transportation support.

Virtually all JFA operations in Laos are conducted from remote base camps. The country’s infrastructure is rudimentary, and there are no facilities in the countryside for Lao and American personnel that make up a JFA. For the Savannakhet operation, the team’s base camp at Ban Alang provided reasonably comfortable facilities. Tents on concrete pads, hot showers, good food and sports equipment made life as pleasant as possible during the arduous 30-day window for operations. ‘We go first class as much as possible,’ Colonel Gahagan noted, ‘and we never put the field teams in hotels. We live right on the site with our Lao counterparts and work there until the task is completed.’

From the base camp, each of three 10-man recovery teams is assigned to work a separate excavation site. A typical recovery team is headed by a captain from the CILHI and includes CILHI scientists, mortuary affairs personnel, life-support equipment specialists, explosive ordnance disposal technicians, medics and other technical personnel. Also on each recovery team are an anthropologist and an archaeologist from the CILHI, and several team members from the U.S. Pacific Command (PACOM), including an explosive ordnance disposal technician, a life-support technician, a medic/doctor and a linguist. Completing the team is a photographer from either the CILHI or PACOM. Teams deployed to Vietnam are slightly larger, usually including an additional mortuary affairs NCO and a communications technician.

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