16: Government and Military Programs in Software

Creation ANSI/AIM Code 128 in Software 16: Government and Military Programs

This issue came to a head as the military prepared for Operation Desert Storm with the potential for large numbers of casualties At the Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, mortuary facilities were expanded, but medical officials were concerned about the ability to identify the dead DNA techniques had been pursued by the military in its efforts to identify servicemembers missing in action from Vietnam, Korea, and even World War II, but this was a slow process that required the military to find close relatives and obtain samples from them in an attempt to match them to DNA samples from the deceased Army pathologists were convinced that the need to identify large numbers of dead service personnel had to be addressed and that a military DNA registry could provide a suitable solution The Army leadership also became convinced of the utility of such a registry and lobbied for it In December 1991, authorization and appropriations for the DNA program were received Since June 1992, DoD has required all military inductees and all active-duty and reserve personnel to provide DNA samples for its DNA Repository at the time of enlistment, reenlistment, annual physical, or preparation for operational deployment The DNA Repository also contains samples from civilians and foreign nationals who work with the US military in arenas of conflict DoD stores the samples in freezers at the DNA Specimen Repository in Gaithersburg, Maryland Implementation of the program in the Army, which is the Executive Agent of the DNA program for DoD, was not without controversy Everyone was concerned about privacy, from DoD officials to policymakers to the media The program office began to hold meetings to educate military personnel about the purpose of the program and the privacy protections that would be used to ensure that DNA data would not be otherwise employed The education campaign worked, and at all levels military personnel have participated in the program To date, those who have refused to participate in the DNA registry have been forced to leave the service (On March 17, 1997, a DoD Directive permitted the armed service branches to exempt certain members from the mandatory DNA collection requirement to accommodate religious practices) As of 1998, only three servicemembers have refused to submit samples, as opposed to 13 million service members who have complied7 Undoubtedly, a number of servicemembers are unwilling participants but have chosen to trust the Army rather than leave the service In addition to the education campaign, other announcements had to be made about the program In particular, on June 14, 1995, DoD placed system of records notice in the Federal Register announcing the establishment of this new system containing personal information This announcement, required by the Privacy Act, needed to be approved by DoD s Privacy Board, and it was, after 18 months of deliberations

See Mayfield v Dalton, 901 FSupp (D Hawaii 1995) (dismissing all claims of two Marines who refused to participate in DNA program on grounds that it infringed on their constitutionally protected privacy rights)

Another major issue for the program was how long to keep the DNA records One might assume that they would just be pulled when a servicemember leaves the military, but apparently similarity of service members names or SSNs as well as clerical error raised the risk of pulling the wrong record It is also time-consuming to search the repository continually for individual records, particularly when there are more than 3 million records Originally, DoD s policy called for destruction of DNA records after 75 years However, in 1996, DoD changed the destruction schedule to 50 years, to be compatible with standards for military health records This 50-year period ensures that no servicemember remains in the armed forces when his DNA record is pulled from the database Also, in 1996, DoD amended its policy to permit servicemembers to request that their DNA samples be destroyed when they leave the service In other words, servicemembers can opt out of the database Once a servicemember makes such a request, DoD has six months to destroy the DNA records DoD s strict policy on sharing of the specimens ensures that DNA specimens can only be used for: