JCA receives lab accreditation

  • Published
OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE, Neb. --  The Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command CONUS Annex, or JCA, officially announced it passed accreditation by the American Society of Crime Lab Directors/Laboratory Accreditation Board May 14.

A comprehensive on-site evaluation of personnel, facilities and all aspects of the laboratory's operations were performed by ASCLD/LAB assessors March 22-23, with the facility earning high praise as well as receiving zero deficiencies.

"Our staff started this accreditation process over a year ago and it is very important to us," said Dr. Greg Fox, JCA director.

ASCLD/LAB is a not-for-profit organization specializing in the accreditation of public and private crime laboratories. The accreditation certifies that the JCA has met a set of internationally recognized standards of operation for forensic laboratories.

"It's a real pleasure to be here representing the ASCLD/LAB and I want to say congratulations to Dr. Fox and the staff on this major accomplishment," said Ralph M. Keaton, who was the guest speaker at the ceremony.

Keaton is a founding member of the ASCLD and was a member of the committee which developed the original accreditation program that became ASCLD/LAB.

More than 400 forensic laboratories, both domestically and internationally, were accredited by the ASCLD/LAB during Keaton's tenure from Sept. 1, 1995 until his retirement on Jan. 1, 2014.

"When you are given the stamp of approval for accreditation it means that you have complied with more than 400 standards," he said. "Your mission here is not well known in society, but you do a great service."

The $5 million JCA lab opened inside Building D on June 17, 2013. Its 23,000 square foot laboratory includes dedicated analytical space in anthropological and odontological analyses, DNA sampling, imaging (radiographic, computed tomography scanner, and scanning electron micro¬scope), material evidence analysis, and histological analysis.

"The staff here has struggled at times as we've stood up this facility, but we all know that our petty little problems are nothing compared to the sacrifice of those who we are trying to identity or their family members," Fox said.

JPAC scientists at the annex perform anthropological and odontological analyses in order to identify unaccounted-for Americans from past conflicts.

JPAC conducts a global, humanitarian mission to search, recover, and conduct laboratory operations to identify unaccounted for Americans from past conflicts in order to support the Department of Defense's personnel accounting efforts.

"When you have a family that's been grieving for years and you're trying to identify their missing loved one, you want to make sure everything is right and everything is transparent," Fox said. "So that's why we do this accreditation."

Falling directly under the U.S. Pacific Command and employing more than 500 joint military and civilian personnel, JPAC continues its search for the fullest possible accounting of Americans still unaccounted for from past conflicts.