The goal of the Department of Defense is to achieve the fullest possible accounting for all Americans who become missing as a result of service to the United States. Accordingly, the USG is committed to pursuing all reasonable avenues to achieve that goal, including under certain circumstances, the investigation of losses underwater.
Safety is of paramount concern during every recovery operation.
Availability of recovery assets. The DoN is the primary agency for providing assets in conducting diving, salvage and recovery operations. As such, the DoN, in concert with theater and fleet commanders operational requirements, shall evaluate requests for recovery services against asset availability. Based on operational requirements and asset availability, a determination will be made as to the feasibility of employing privately owned salvage and recovery services as an alternative recovery source. Neither the Department of Defense nor this web site endorses information, products, or services contained on any external links, including, but not limited to the Adobe web site.