New MIA hunt chief
emphasizes families

Brig. Gen. Michael Flowers assumed command of the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command at Hickam Air Force Base on Friday.

Flowers last served in Kosovo where he was the chief of staff of the NATO force for the past year.

He said he would continue the work of his predecessor, Maj. Gen. W. Montague Winfield, to recover and identify remains from around the world.

About 88,000 troops are missing, including 78,000 from World War II. Thousands more are missing from the Korean War, Vietnam War and Cold War.

Past missions have taken the command's teams as far as Cambodia, Papua New Guinea and Russia.

"We're very sensitive to the needs of the families, to their wanting to come to closure, to know exactly what happened to their loved ones," Flowers said after the change-of-command ceremony.

"We devote a lot of time to talking with the families, meeting with the families and informing the families of what our proposed future actions are."

Winfield will head the U.S. Army Cadet Command, the headquarters for ROTC programs, in Fort Monroe, Va.