History
The Joint Personnel Recovery Agency (JPRA) serves the nation and its warfighters by working to prevent isolating events, preparing the warfighters in the event they are isolated, and responding when isolating events occur.
The JPRA has its roots in World War II and the Korean War. In 1942, a military intelligence service was formed to aid US forces to evade and escape from the enemy. In 1952, the Department of Defense (DoD) designated the US Air Force as executive agent (EA) for escape and evasion activities. Training was mostly for pilots and aircrew as they were considered the most likely to be isolated. After the Korean War DoD implemented a Code of Conduct for the Services; it was revised after the Vietnam conflict.
In the early 1990s, DOD began to focus more on the importance of personnel recovery (PR) and in 1991 the Joint Services Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape (SERE) Agency (JSSA) was designated the DoD EA for DoD Prisoner of War/Missing in Action matters. In 1994, the Joint Staff appointed the JSSA as the focal point for PR and the US Air Force as the Executive Agent for Joint Combat Search and Rescue (JCSAR). In 1999, DoD created JPRA as an agency under the Commander in Chief, US Joint Forces Command (USJFCOM) and was named the Office of Primary Responsibility (OPR) for DoD-wide PR matters. After the disestablishment of USJFCOM, JPRA was designated a Chairman’s Controlled Activity in August 2011.
The agency leads the DoD PR enterprise by providing strategic direction, oversight, operational support, analysis, capability development, and training and education to improve PR interoperability between DoD, the interagency, and our multinational partners.
JPRA continues the tradition and moral imperative, to leave no one behind.