             missing in action (mia) is a casualty classification assigned to armed services personnel and other combatants who are reported missing during wartime. they may have been killed, wounded, become a prisoner of war, or deserted. if deceased, neither their remains nor grave has been positively identified. becoming mia has been an occupational risk for as long as there has been warfare. ==problems and solutions== until around 1912, service personnel in most countries were not routinely issued with id tags. as a result, if someone was killed in action and his body was not recovered until much later, there was little or no chance of identifying the remains. starting around the time of the first world war, nations began to issue their service personnel with purpose-made id tags. usually, these were made of some form of lightweight metal such as aluminum. however, in the case of the british army the material chosen was compressed fiber, which was not very 
Military_personnel Military_terminology Missing_in_action War_casualties