The Defense Prisoner of War/Missing in Action Office (DPMO) is
launching a new policy for Defense Department civilians and contractors
who are at risk of capture.
The military services will soon begin training military contractors
in the “civilian code of conduct,” so they will know
what to do if they become prisoners of war, said Air Force Maj.
Robin Athey, of DPMO. Training civilians is “now a Defense
Department requirement,” and DPMO is “working to get
the policy into use on the street,” he said.
“In the current climate, everything is being contracted out
at the Defense Department,” Athey explained. “As we
are getting more civilians in theater, the need is becoming more
apparent” to train Defense Department civilians in tactics
and techniques for evading capture or to survive prisoner-of-war
conditions, he said.
Though civilians are listed as non-combatants under the rules of
the Geneva Convention, DPMO is asking combatant commanders to identify
those who should be trained—mainly civilians who are at high
risk of capture. DPMO wants to “identify those with a higher
propensity of knowledge and determine whether they have a low, medium
or high risk of capture,” said Athey.
Those with a low risk of capture will be trained in the laws of
armed conflict and informed of legal issues related to capture.
Those with a medium risk of capture will be provided with resistance
training. “Those at high risk of capture would receive POW
training. They would be taken to school to teach them the skills,”
Athey said.
DPMO officials estimated that the training will begin within a
year. “However, funding still has to be identified for the
training from within the services,” Athey said.