123STA T . 22 97PUBLIC LA W 111 –84—O CT. 28 , 2 0 09 ‘ ‘ (5)TheP e rsianGulfW ar d urin gt he p eri o d b eginning on A ugust 2,19 9 0 , and ending on F ebruar y 2 8 , 1991 . ‘‘( 6 ) S u c h other conflicts in w hich m embers of the armed forces ser v ed as the Secretary of D efense may designate. ‘‘(b) IMPLE ME NTA T IO NP R O C E S S. — (1) The Secretary of Defense shall implement the program within the Department of Defense P O W /M IA accounting community. ‘‘(2) For purposes of paragraph (1), the term ‘POW/MIA accounting community ’ means
‘‘(A) The Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO). ‘‘( B ) The J oint POW/MIA Accounting C ommand (JPAC). ‘‘(C) The Armed Forces D N A Identification L aboratory (AFDIL). ‘‘(D) The Life Sciences Eq uipment Laboratory of the Air Force (LSEL). ‘‘(E) The casualty and mortuary affairs offices of the mili - tary departments. ‘‘(F) Any other element of the Department of Defense whose mission (as designated by the Secretary of Defense) involves the accounting for and recovery of members of the armed forces who are missing in action, prisoners of war, or unaccounted for. ‘‘(c) TREATMENT AS MISSIN G PERSONS.—Each unaccounted for person covered by subsection (a) shall be considered to be a missing person for purposes of the applicability of other provisions of this chapter to the person. ‘‘(d) ESTA B LIS H MENT O F PERSONNEL FILES.—(1) The Secretary of Defense shall ensure that a personnel file is established and maintained for each person covered by subsection (a) if the Sec- retary— ‘‘(A) possesses any information relevant to the status of the person
or ‘‘(B) receives any new information regarding the missing person as provided in subsection (e). ‘‘(2) The Secretary of Defense shall ensure that each file estab- lished under this subsection contains all relevant information per- taining to a person covered by subsection (a) and is readily acces- sible to all elements of the department, the combatant commands, and the armed forces involved in the effort to account for the person. ‘‘( 3 ) Each file established under this subsection shall be handled in accordance with, and sub j ect to the provisions of, section 1506 of this title in the same manner as applies to the file of a missing person otherwise subject to such section. ‘‘(e) R E V IE W OF STAT U SRE Q UIREMENTS.—(1) If new information (as described in paragraph (3)) is found or received that may be related to one or more unaccounted for persons covered by sub- section (a), whether or not such information specifically relates (or may specifically relate) to any particular such unaccounted for person, that information shall be provided to the Secretary of Defense. ‘‘(2) U pon receipt of new information under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall ensure that— ‘‘(A) the information is treated under paragraph (2) of subsection (c) of section 1505 of this title, relating to addition Records.
