Past Conflict Accounting (12.740)
Past Conflict Accounting (Assistance Listing 12.740) is run by the Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office, part of the Department of Defense. It awarded $93.4 million in 6 grants from fiscal 2021 to 2025, about $15.6 million per award on average. No funding opportunity is open on Grants.gov right now.
The typical award was $1.6 million. Half of the 6 awards fell between $869,804 and $2.4 million, and they ranged from $487,771 to $86.4 million.
- Awarded, FY 2021 to 2025$93.4 million
- Grant awards6
- Typical award$1.6 million
- Awarded in FY 2025$21.8 million
- Size rank836 of 1,823
- Type of assistanceCooperative agreements, project grants
Key findings
- Annual funding rose from $17.2 million in fiscal 2021 to $21.8 million in fiscal 2025.
- It is the 836th largest of 1,823 federal grant programs by five-year awards.
- The 6 largest recipients received 100% of the money.
- Awards went to recipients in 6 states and territories.
What the program funds
The United States has made a sacred promise to its citizens that it will bring home with dignity all those who have served. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) is responsible for determining the fate of our missing and, where possible, recovering and identifying those who have made the ultimate sacrifice on behalf of a grateful nation. This program facilitates efforts to provide the fullest possible accounting for missing Department of Defense personnel from past conflicts and to provide answers to their families and the nation. This effort has a direct impact on the readiness, recruitment, and morale of the active forces.
Open opportunities
No opportunity under this program is open or forecast on Grants.gov right now. Programs often post once a year, so the funding history below shows what to expect.
Rules from the program listing
Who can apply
Applicants can be any private entity. A private entity is defined as any self-sustaining, non-Federal person or organization, established, operated, and controlled by any individual(s) acting outside the scope of any official capacity as officers, employees, or agents of the Federal Government
What the money can and cannot pay for
Pursuant to 10 USC 1501, the Secretary of Defense designated DPAA as the “single organization within the Department of Defense to have responsibility for Department matters relating to missing persons from past conflicts, including accounting for missing persons and persons whose remains have not been recovered from the conflict in which they were lost.” 10 USC 1501a provides the Secretary of Defense with authority to "enter into a cooperative agreement with, or make a grant to, a private entity for purposes related to the support of the activities of the designated Defense Agency." The Secretary of Defense delegated his 10 USC 1501a grant and cooperative agreement authority to DPAA to support DPAA's mission of locating and recovering the remains of missing persons from past conflicts, identifying those remains when possible, and providing answers to the families of the missing and the nation. Therefore, assistance must for purposes related to supporting efforts to account for missing Department of Defense personnel from past conflicts and provide answers to their families and the nation.
Matching requirements
Statutory Formula: Title 2, Part 200, Subpart 306,Public Law Section 916 of Public Law 113-291.This program has no statutory formulaMatching requirements are not applicable to this assistance listing. MOE requirements are not applicable to this assistance listing.
Deadlines
Deadlines do not apply
Award range and average, in the agency's words
Range: $188,000 to $18,500,000 Average: $3,500,000
Examples of funded projects
Fiscal Year2018: Funding was used for a cooperative agreement that set up innovative new efforts related to DoD's mission to account for missing military personnel from covered past conflicts. This agreement funded, for example, forensic anthropological field research that advanced techniques and procedures used to investigate and excavate locations where missing military personnel were believed to be located. In addition, this agreement resulted in new arrangements for conducting both terrestrial and underwater field investigations and recoveries with a variety of sub-awardees that offered the needed skills and experience to support DoD's accounting mission. The agreement was with a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to assisting military, medical, academic and government clients by administering, managing and supporting preeminent scientific programs that benefit members of the armed forces and civilians alike.Fiscal Year2019: A project to develop an innovative program for establishing new methodologies and processes for conducting systematic historical research and analyses of unresolved casualty cases, battles, and other war-related events to include creative approaches to archival research, secondary source analysis, oral history interviews, site investigations, and any other pertinent (e.g., computer-based) assessments designed to advance DPAA’s mission to account for missing military personnel lost in past conflicts (back to and including WWII).
Funding history and past recipients
From fiscal 2021 to 2025, Past Conflict Accounting (12.740) awarded $93.4 million across 6 grant awards, an average of $15.6 million per award.
| Recipient | State | Awards | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Inc. | Maryland | 1 | $86.4 million |
| Florida State University | Florida | 1 | $2.6 million |
| University of Hawaii | Hawaii | 1 | $1.8 million |
| The Ohio State University | Ohio | 1 | $1.5 million |
| University of Wisconsin System | Wisconsin | 1 | $665,000 |
| Arizona State University | Arizona | 1 | $487,771 |
Who usually wins
Nonprofits received 92% of the money, colleges and universities 7.6%.
| Recipient type | Awards | Amount | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nonprofits | 1 | $86.4 million | 92% |
| Colleges and universities | 5 | $7.1 million | 7.6% |
By state
4 states have a page for this program: those that received at least $1 million or 10 awards. They are Maryland, Florida, Hawaii and Ohio.