21st Century U.S. Military Documents: Guide to Services Contingency Planning: Mortuary Affairs, Search And Recovery (S&R) - Air Force Handbook 10-247, Volume 4 - Aircraft Crashes

This volume summarizes Services considerations for mortuary affairs search and recovery (S&R) operations in CONUS, PACAF, and USAFE and for OCONUS deployments. This volume is one of the AFH 10-247 series of publications that are guides to Services contingency planning.

Topics covered include: Search and Rescue (S&R), mishap investigations, safety investigation board (SIB), accident investigation boards, aircraft crashes, case studies, terrain of search area, trajectory impacts.

Purpose. This guide provides guidance for home station and deployed Air Force Services Prime RIBS personnel and base augmentees performing mortuary affairs search and recovery (S&R) operations. It identifies and provides home station and Air Expeditionary Force (AEF) contingency planning procedures for conducting search and recovery of deceased United States (US) military personnel, US noncombatants, allied, coalition partner, third country, and adversary personnel. The guide addresses requirements and approaches to S&R that should be considered by Services. It also addresses some of the circumstances where a Services mortuary S&R team may have to either perform expedient S&R or provide a non-Services unit with support for some type of expedient S&R. This publication is not directive in nature. Records required by directive publications will be maintained according to applicable Air Force record management programs and disposition schedules.
Primary Sources. This handbook was developed from Air Force Services' publications, Tyndall (Silver Flag) Services Combat Training and Air Force Institute of Technology mortuary affairs search and recovery course materials, contacts with their instructors, and contacts with AFSVA mortuary affairs personnel. Additional sources for this publication were after action report inputs provided by locations supporting overseas deployments.