LAOS Turning now to Laos, we have conducted 432 investigations and 56 excavations. As a result of these efforts, remains believed to represent 93 Americans were returned to the Central Identification Laboratory in Hawaii for analysis, and they have achieved 20 positive identifications to date. The challenges we face in Laos differ from those we see in Vietnam and Cambodia for a variety of reasons. The terrain in Laos is the most rugged of the three, and the losses are more often in sparsely populated locations. Our operations have been conducted in accordance with a plan whereby we move from north to south, province by province, and we are just now moving into the area containing the bulk of the losses.
Few roads exist, and the weather is often severe.
The government of Laos continues to support our operations with an increasing level of cooperation. In the last year, Joint Task Force - Full Accounting conducted six Joint Field Activities in Laos. Our teams completed 150 investigations and 14 excavations. Starting with JFA 95-1L, the Lao government agreed to increase the size of our team from three elements totaling 30 personnel to four elements totaling 40. This has allowed the operational tempo of field activities to increase proportionately.