Emerging Concepts of Mortuary Affairs Doctrine for the 21st Century War Fighter

This is a review of the Department of Defense's (DoD) Mortuary Affairs program. In the following pages it is my intent to determine if existing doctrine and planning is sufficient in the event the United States (US) is required to execute a wartime mortuary operation. I have spent the last two decades as an Air Force Services officer. Within that specialty falls the Air Force Mortuary Affairs program. For years Mortuary Affairs has corporately wrestled with the notion that friendly troops could be killed by, or contaminated by, weapons of mass effect (WME), presenting the logistical challenge of "what to do next" with human remains. Military doctrine is written and Service specific instructions and policy letters are in the field, but they have not kept pace with the times. Hopefully this study will highlight the inconsistencies and dangerously outdated guidance that field mortuary affairs personnel are charged to follow.