AFPC officials keep families of missing personnel informed Published Sept. 17, 2010 By Jon Hanson Air Force Personnel Center Public Affairs RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- One of the most difficult personal hardships for families is not knowing how their deployed Airman is doing. When an Airman is declared "unaccounted for," that hardship becomes agony. This was especially prevalent during the Vietnam and Korean wars where more than 1,400 Airmen were declared missing in action or unaccounted for after the end of those wars. To help stay in touch with the families of those servicemembers, Department of Defense officials directed each military service to create missing persons branches. The Air Force Missing Persons Branch, located at the Air Force Personnel Center, administers the service's hostile and non-hostile missing persons program. It serves as a liaison between the Air Force, U.S. government and next of kin of all unaccounted-for Airmen from the Korean War, Cold War, Vietnam War and current operations. The members of the branch interact daily with family members to answer a variety of questions including changes in status, casualty benefits, pay and Social Security issues. They also send a small team to various locations throughout the United States several times a year to provide updates to family members. "All of our family members want closure, and each piece of communication we can provide brings many of them closer to that point," said Barney Frampton, the senior liaison officer with the missing persons branch. "Any contact, even if it is a very small piece of information, is invaluable to our family members." Currently, there are 548 Airmen still unaccounted from the Vietnam War, 910 from Korean War, 57 from the Cold War and one from the Libyan Raid in 1986. The missing persons branch is responsible for those unaccounted-for Airmen since the Air Force became a separate service in 1947. With more than 3,400 family members in their database, the job can be a little daunting. "It sometimes takes a little while to build a good rapport with families," Mr. Frampton said, who has been with the branch for more than 20 years. "However, the bond that forms becomes strong." When an Airman is found and identified, the relationship between the family and the branch normally ends. "It is a little disheartening to lose that relationship," he said. "While we are very happy the family gains the closure, we end up losing contact with them. Since 1995 there have been 249 Air Force identifications. The missing persons branch will continue to serve family members until every Airman is accounted for. "If all Airmen were accounted for, it would be a great day. No servicemember and no family member should have to endure the uncertainty, the pain or the sadness a prisoner of war or missing-in-action scenario brings with it," said Jim Russell, the chief of the missing persons branch. "So in that respect, I hope I work my way out of a job. That said, I would miss the dedicated people who work this mission across the DOD. They are true professionals." (Editor's note: Today, the nation celebrates National POW/MIA Recognition Day to honor the commitments and the sacrifices made by our nation's prisoners of war and those who are still missing in action.)