Airman goes in search of POWs, MIAs Published April 24, 2007 By Staff Sgt. Bryan Franks 33d Fighter Wing Public Affairs EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- Coupled with the emotions surrounding prisoners of war or military members missing-in-action, there are questions families always wonder about and sometimes never get answered. However, the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command is trying to answer those questions with the help of Airmen all across the country, including one from the 33d Fighter Wing. Tech. Sgt. Ryan Davidson, 60th Fighter Squadron Life Support NCOIC, will deploy April 24 for about 60 days in support of a JPAC recovery team to Laos. His first stop will be in Hawaii, where he will meet up with the rest of the JPAC recovery team and receive almost a month of training on their roles and responsibilities while in Laos. From there, he will head to Laos and spend 35-45 days in the field as a life support investigator. "I'm really excited to go on this deployment," Sergeant Davidson said. "I volunteered for the deployment after hearing about it at a life support conference." A JPAC recovery team is comprised of 10-14 members, including an analyst, linguist, medic, forensic anthropologist, explosive ordnance disposal technician, forensic photographer, life support technician and several mortuary affairs specialists. JPAC's mission is to account for all Americans missing from the nation's past conflicts. Teams work with other U.S. and foreign specialists to search for, recover and identify the remains of Americans unaccounted for from World War II, Korean War, Cold War, Vietnam War and Persian Gulf War. This deployment also carries a sentimental value for Sergeant Davidson - his dad served one year in Vietnam as a machine gunner on a helicopter. Although his dad came home safely from Vietnam, some did not and this deployment holds a special meaning for Sergeant Davidson to try and bring closure for another family. "I think it's a very important job," Sergeant Davidson said. "I'm honored that I was selected to be a part of this mission." JPAC is a combination of the 30-year-old U.S. Army Central Identification Laboratory in Hawaii and the 11-year-old Joint Task Force - Full Accounting Program that merged in 2003. To date, more than 1,300 individuals have been identified by JPAC, averaging about six per month.