‘‘(A) A military officer, in the case of an in-
quiry with respect to a member of the Armed
Forces.
‘‘(B) A civilian, in the case of an inquiry with
respect to a civilian employee of the Department of
Defense or of a contractor of the Department of De-
fense.’’.
(3) Section 1504(d) of such title is amended—
(A) in paragraph (1), by striking out ‘‘who are’’
and all that follows in that paragraph and inserting
in lieu thereof ‘‘as follows:
‘‘(A) In the case of a board that will inquire
into the whereabouts and status of one or more
members of the Armed Forces (and no civilians de-
scribed in subparagraph (B)), the board shall be
composed of officers having the grade of major or
lieutenant commander or above.
‘‘(B) In the case of a board that will inquire
into the whereabouts and status of one or more civil-
ian employees of the Department of Defense or con-
tractors of the Department of Defense (and no
members of the Armed Forces), the board shall be
composed of—
‘‘(i) not less than three employees of the
Department of Defense whose rate of annual
pay is equal to or greater than the rate of an-
nual pay payable for grade GS–13 of the Gen-
eral Schedule under section 5332 of title 5; and
‘‘(ii) such members of the Armed Forces
as the Secretary considers advisable.
‘‘(C) In the case of a board that will inquire
into the whereabouts and status of both one or more
members of the Armed Forces and one or more civil-
ians described in subparagraph (B)—
‘‘(i) the board shall include at least one of-
ficer described in subparagraph (A) and at least
one employee of the Department of Defense de-
scribed in subparagraph (B)(i); and
‘‘(ii) the ratio of such officers to such em-
ployees on the board shall be roughly propor-
tional to the ratio of the number of members of
the Armed Forces who are subjects of the
board’s inquiry to the number of civilians who
are subjects of the board’s inquiry.’’; and
(B) in paragraph (4), by striking out ‘‘section
1503(c)(3)’’ and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘section
1503(c)(4)’’.
(4) Paragraph (1) of section 1513 of such title is
amended to read as follows:
‘‘(1) The term ‘missing person’ means—
‘‘(A) a member of the Armed Forces on
active duty who is in a missing status; or
‘‘(B) a civilian employee of the Depart-
ment of Defense or an employee of a contractor
of the Department of Defense who serves with
or accompanies the Armed Forces in the field
under orders and who is in a missing status.’’.
(b) REPORT ON PRELIMINARY ASSESSMENT OF STA-
TUS.—(1) Section 1502 of such title is amended—
(A) in subsection (a)(2)—
(i) by striking out ‘‘10 days’’ and inserting
in lieu thereof ‘‘48 hours’’; and
(ii) by striking out ‘‘Secretary concerned’’
and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘theater compo-
nent commander with jurisdiction over the
missing person’’;
(B) by redesignating subsection (b) as sub-
section (c);
(C) by inserting after subsection (a) the follow-
ing new subsection (b):
‘‘(b) TRANSMISSION THROUGH THEATER COMPO-
NENT COMMANDER.—Upon reviewing a report under sub-
section (a) recommending that a person be placed in a
missing status, the theater component commander shall
ensure that all necessary actions are being taken, and all
appropriate assets are being used, to resolve the status
of the missing person. Not later than 14 days after receiv-
ing the report, the theater component commander shall
forward the report to the Secretary of Defense or the Sec-
retary concerned in accordance with procedures prescribed
under section 1501(b) of this title. The theater component
commander shall include with such report a certification
that all necessary actions are being taken, and all appro-
priate assets are being used, to resolve the status of the
missing person.’’; and
(D) in subsection (c), as redesignated by sub-
paragraph (B), by adding at the end the following
new sentence: ‘‘The theater component commander
through whom the report with respect to the missing
person is transmitted under subsection (b) shall en-
sure that all pertinent information relating to the
whereabouts and status of the missing person that
results from the preliminary assessment or from ac-
tions taken to locate the person is properly safe-
guarded to avoid loss, damage, or modification.’’.
(2) Section 1503(a) of such title is amended by strik-
ing out ‘‘section 1502(a)’’ and inserting in lieu thereof
‘‘section 1502(b)’’.
(3) Section 1513 of such title is amended by adding
at the end the following new paragraph:
‘‘(8) The term ‘theater component commander’
means, with respect to any of the combatant com-
mands, an officer of any of the Armed Forces who
(A) is commander of all forces of that armed force
assigned to that combatant command, and (B) is di-
rectly subordinate to the commander of the combat-
ant command.’’.
(c) FREQUENCY OF SUBSEQUENT REVIEWS.—Sub-
section (b) of section 1505 of such title is amended to read
as follows:
‘‘(b) FREQUENCY OF SUBSEQUENT REVIEWS.—(1)
In the case of a missing person who was last known to
be alive or who was last suspected of being alive, the Sec-
retary shall appoint a board to conduct an inquiry with
respect to a person under this subsection—
‘‘(A) on or about three years after the date of
the initial report of the disappearance of the person
under section 1502(a) of this title; and
‘‘(B) not later than every three years there-
after.
‘‘(2) In addition to appointment of boards under
paragraph (1), the Secretary shall appoint a board to con-
duct an inquiry with respect to a missing person under
this subsection upon receipt of information that could re-
sult in a change of status of the missing person. When
the Secretary appoints a board under this paragraph, the
time for subsequent appointments of a board under para-
graph (1)(B) shall be determined from the date of the re-
ceipt of such information.
‘‘(3) The Secretary is not required to appoint a board
under paragraph (1) with respect to the disappearance of
any person—
‘‘(A) more than 30 years after the initial report
of the disappearance of the missing person required
by section 1502 of this title; or
‘‘(B) if, before the end of such 30-year period,
the missing person is accounted for.’’.
(d) PENALTIES FOR WRONGFUL WITHHOLDING OF
INFORMATION.—Section 1506 of such title is amended—
(1) by redesignating subsection (e) as sub-
section (f); and
(2) by inserting after subsection (d) the follow-
ing new subsection (e):
‘‘(e) WRONGFUL WITHHOLDING.—Except as pro-
vided in subsections (a) through (d), any person who
knowingly and willfully withholds from the personnel file
of a missing person any information relating to the dis-
appearance or whereabouts and status of a missing person
shall be fined as provided in title 18 or imprisoned not
more than one year, or both.’’.
(e) INFORMATION TO ACCOMPANY RECOMMENDA-
TION OF STATUS OF DEATH.—Section 1507(b) of such
title is amended adding at the end the following new para-
graphs:
‘‘(3) A description of the location of the body,
if recovered.
‘‘(4) If the body has been recovered and is not
identifiable through visual means, a certification by
a practitioner of an appropriate forensic science that
the body recovered is that of the missing person.’’.
(f) SCOPE OF PREENACTMENT REVIEW.—(1) Section
1509 of such title is amended—
(A) by redesignating subsection (c) as sub-
section (d); and
(B) by inserting after subsection (b) the follow-
ing new subsection (c):
‘‘(c) SPECIAL RULE FOR PERSONS CLASSIFIED AS
‘KIA/BNR’.—In the case of a person described in sub-
section (b) who was classified as ‘killed in action/body not
recovered’, the case of that person may be reviewed under
this section only if the new information referred to in sub-
section (a) is compelling.’’.
(2)(A) The heading of such section is amended by
inserting 
‘‘, 
special 
interest’’ 
after
‘‘Preenactment’’.