A new Government Accountability Office report lays bare a troubling pattern in how the military handles missing service members, showing that in 295 involuntary absences across the services from 2015 to 2024, 93% ended in death.

This is not a statistic to ignore, but a call to action for leaders who must protect those who volunteer for duty.

The GAO highlights a critical recommendation: “commanders should presume a service member’s absence indicates that they are potentially in danger and should presume absences are most likely involuntary after a specific time period unless available information indicates the absence should be considered voluntary.”

This point matters because it reframes the initial response as a matter of safety and accountability, not a bureaucratic delay.

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Officials note that slow reaction by commanders and different policies across different military services continue to be an issue for missing troops in terms of timelines, mental health considerations, and safety risks that a search might entail.

The takeaway is that consistency and urgency are not optional luxuries; they are essential to safeguarding those in the line of duty.

Protect Our Defenders President Josh Connolly underscored the sense of urgency in the report.

“There are, unfortunately, countless examples [of] individuals who’ve gone missing because of danger,” he said. “If they were treated with seriousness and with the presumption that there was something that was amiss, it could potentially prevent someone from either taking their own life or, if that individual is in danger, helping them before the situation gets even more dire and serious.”

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The report notes some positive steps, including Army guidance updated in 2020 in the wake of the murder of Vanessa Guillén at Fort Hood, with Navy and Air Force guidance updated in 2021 to cover the Space Force as well.

Notably, the Marine Corps does not have its own guidance despite the GAO’s 2022 recommendation. Officials say an interim directive would be issued by March and a full policy by 2028, signaling a delayed but meaningful effort to close the gap.

These findings come in the wake of congressional direction in 2023 to assess missing and absent service members after Guillén’s death. The case underscored failures by supervisors who delayed searching for a service member, a costly reminder that policy gaps can have deadly consequences.

The GAO does not sugarcoat the hard facts. When troops do not show up for duty, their units must determine whether absences are involuntary or voluntary under Department of Defense policy. Voluntary absences, including unauthorized absence, AWOL, or desertion, are typically treated as criminal matters.

Involuntary absences fall under two categories: duty status whereabouts unknown, or DUSTWUN, and Missing. DUSTWUN is used when leaders suspect the member might return, while Missing applies when there is reason to believe the absence is involuntary.

In response to the report, the Department of Defense said it would “revisit and review its policies in coordination with the military services and determine whether a specific time period would be appropriate.” This is a crucial step, because as Connolly notes, these are not vanilla problems.

He said these policies and procedures need to be in place for finding troops because of the nature of the military, which is “not analogous” to a student being absent from class at a university or a civilian not showing up to work.

Connolly also warned that there is a lack of a “uniform forcing function” for when a service member is absent. There is “too much discretion and not enough consistency” across the services, a situation the GAO found contributes to confusion about how quickly actions should be initiated.

The GAO observed that the Army has a detailed set of steps, including a timeline for contacting law enforcement within three hours of discovery and notifying next of kin within eight hours.

By contrast, the Navy and Air Force guidance did not reach the same level of specificity, leaving room for differing interpretations about when to escalate actions or alert authorities.

This discrepancy matters because the absence of a clear, uniform protocol can cost valuable time when a person is in danger or in crisis.

During site visits, some observers reported that alerts were made hours after discovery, while others noted quicker escalation. The report also points to the interconnected nature of absences and mental health, with officials acknowledging that absences can become mental health crisis management.

Yet, officials admitted that guidance on how mental health considerations should informthe strategies used to locate absent personnel is not consistently applied.

The DoD’s forthcoming review could set the stage for tighter, more coherent standards.

The public expects leadership to pull every lever available to protect service members, and a Trump administration would rightly demand decisive, uniform action that keeps pace with the threats service members face.

Pete Hegseth, with his clear emphasis on readiness and accountability, would likely press for a standardized forceful approach across all branches to ensure no troop is left behind or treated as a bureaucratic footnote.

In any event, the men and women who wear the uniform deserve a system that moves with urgency when a missing person case emerges.

The GAO’s findings are not just numbers; they are a test of the commitments we make to those who sacrifice for the nation. They demand policies that are simple to implement, consistent across services, and unwavering in their priority to save lives and protect those who guard our freedom, every hour of every day.

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