UW MIA Recovery and Identification Project

The University of Wisconsin Missing in Action Recovery and Identification Project (UW MIA RIP) honors the sacrifice of brave Americans who paid the ultimate price for our freedoms. Our primary mission is to recover missing U.S. military personnel from past global conflicts. Additionally, we educate students and communities year round on the importance of past national service and help bring closure to the families of the missing.

The UW MIA RIP works to recover, identify, and repatriate MIA U.S. service members by conducting annual field excavations and year-round research assistance to families of missing service members. The project consists of an interdisciplinary team of academic experts and student volunteers in the fields of history, archaeology, forensic anthropology, and biology, collaborating to make these missions possible and to make these missions a success.