Photo By Petty Officer 1st Class Tyler Thompson | U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. John Swope, a mountaineer assigned to Defense POW/MIA...... read more read more
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JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, Hawaii -- U.S. Army Staff Sgt. John Swope joined the Army in 2004. For the past 45 days, Swope has served as the mountaineer for the Laos Investigation Team (IT) at the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) based out of Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii.
In that capacity, Swope used his skills to keep a team of 9 DPAA members safe in while navigating treacherous terrain in the country of Lao People’s Democratic Republic. The purpose of the work was integral in DPAA’s mission of providing the fullest possible accounting of our missing personnel to their families and the nation.
During his mission, Swope and his team collected, analyzed and integrated all available information to develop field investigation plans and schemes of maneuver for future recovery operations. The team was in charge of surveying land, and gathering any evidence they could in hopes of correlating the site to a record of loss of a U.S. service member in order to recommend future excavations.
“My job is important because we have many experts on our team and many people with different skill levels. Anything I can do to keep our team safe while accomplishing our mission of finding our missing is very rewarding,” Swope said.
The job took Swope all over the country of Laos, from mountaintops to jungles to rice paddies. There are never two days that are alike, he said.
“Somedays all I had to do was set up a simple handrail to help people navigate the slope of the terrain,” Swope said. “Other days it was as complex as setting up a zipline to transport gear.”
Most workdays consist of a lot of hard work in the Lao heat. Hiking, surveying, metal detecting, and digging. And the work continues in to the evening, as anything found on site must be linked to a missing U.S. service member with well-written reports.
Swope knows the work is meaningful to so many people in America. “Knowing that I’m helping bring closure to families who had someone that gave everything makes me want to give my all to bring them home,” Swope said.
Swope is a native of Rye, Colorado and currently resides in Fairbanks Alaska.
For more information about DPAA, visit www.dpaa.mil, find us on social media at www.facebook.com/dodpaa, or call 703-699-1420/1169.
| Date Taken: | 12.16.2019 |
| Date Posted: | 12.16.2019 17:39 |
| Story ID: | 355921 |
| Location: | LA |
| Web Views: | 120 |
| Downloads: | 2 |
This work, Colorado Native Serves as Mountaineering Expert for Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, by PO1 Tyler Thompson, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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