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Tierra Woodberry, Armed Forces Medical Examiner System (AFMES) DNA specimen processor, removes a container of blood stain cards from a movable housing unit containing 1 million samples Jan. 30, 2019, at the Armed Forces Repository of Specimen Samples for the Identification of Remains on Dover Air Force Base, Del. Most of the cards are collected at the various basic military training installations for each branch of service. (U.S. Air Force Photo by Senior Airman Dedan D. Dials)

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Tierra Woodberry, Armed Forces Medical Examiner System (AFMES) DNA specimen processor, searches for a blood stain card in a row of 500 Jan. 30, 2019, at the Armed Forces Repository of Specimen Samples for the Identification of Remains on Dover Air Force Base, Del. Armed Forces Medical Examiner System personnel use blood stain cards to accurately identify the remains of fallen service members. (U.S. Air Force Photo by Senior Airman Dedan D. Dials)

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A stack of blood stain cards rest on the desk of an Armed Forces Repository of Specimen Samples for the Identification of Remains (AFRSSIR) technician’s desk Jan. 30, 2019, at Dover Air Force Base, Del. AFRSSIR maintains approximately 7.9 million blood stain cards, preserving the DNA of U.S. service members, primarily to ensure fallen service members are returned to their families. (U.S. Air Force Photo by Senior Airman Dedan D. Dials) (This photo has been altered for security purposes by blurring out personally identifiable information.)

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Chris Karashowsky, Armed Forces Medical Examiner System (AFMES) DNA specimen processor, prepares a machine used to vacuum seal blood stain cards at the Armed Forces Repository of Specimen Samples for the Identification of Remains (AFRSSIR) on Dover Air Force Base, Del., Jan. 30, 2019. By sealing the cards, AFRSSIR ensures all of the samples will be preserved for 50 years, as required by AFRSSIR’s regulations. (U.S. Air Force Photo by Senior Airman Dedan D. Dials)

AFRSSIR: No more unknowns

Published Feb. 19, 2019
By Senior Airman Dedan Dials
436th Airlift Wing Public Affairs

DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. -- Millions of blood samples in the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System building serve as an exhaustive and invaluable resource for the identification of fallen service members’ remains.

In 1992, the Armed Forces Repository of Specimen Samples for the Identification of Remains began housing blood stain cards under a mandate passed by Congress. These small, white, sealed cards with two spots of blood ensure proper identification of remains, enabling the Department of Defense to return the fallen home to their loved ones.

For more than 25 years, the technicians of AFRSSIR have maintained these cards – deliberately filed, vacuum-sealed and secured – in case a name is unfortunately called.

“During Operation Enduring Freedom, there were more than 800 service members who we were able to identify because of these cards,” said Brenda Waite, AFMES administrative officer of AFRSSIR. “We were able to give their families closure and send the fallen home.”

Today, AFRSSIR is home to 7.9 million blood stain cards. Each one represents a service member, past or present.

“You would remember getting this done during basic training,” Waite said. “When you went to medical for your in-processing and got your blood drawn, they would have taken an extra vial from you to be placed on this card which you would sign, and it’d be sent here to us.”

The efficiency of the process of collecting and storing blood samples in a repository is vital to the DOD. After collection, in sets of as many as 12,000 cards per week, the samples are sent to AFRSSIR at AFMES Headquarters here. They are then stored for 50 years, shelved amongst millions of others.

“This is the only repository for the United States,” boasts Jennifer Wadhams, AFMES supervisor of AFRSSIR. “It’s unlike anything else in the world. There’s no other country that houses this kind of information for their service members.”

Although the mission of AFRSSIR is housed in one building, it has a truly national impact. For the families who have been given the gift of closure and to whom the fallen have been returned home, none of this would have been possible without AFRSSIR and what they do.

For information more about the AFRSSIR, visit their website at: http://www.health.mil/afmes