POW/MIA INSIDERS GLOSSARY

RE:  Recovery Element.  The CILHI contingency of a JFA, excavating a crash site or a grave site.

REFNO:  Reference number; a specific number assigned to each case of an un-accounted for American from the Indochina War.

RECOVERY TEAM:  A team with the primary mission of conducting excavation operations.

RE-INVESTIGATION:  An investigation effort conducted after an initial investigation.

REMAINS:  Usually, this refers to skeletal remains, the pieces of bone and teeth left after a human being or other vertebrate has decomposed.

REMF:  Rear Echelon Mother Fucker.  The personnel who are supposed to be supporting the field teams but are usually more trouble than their worth.

REPAT:  Call sign for JTF-FA mission support aircraft.  C-141 and C-17 use the FISCAL year for a suffix (REPAT 98) while the C-130’s are numbered in sequence (REPAT 41).

REPATRIATION CEREMONY:  Formal ceremony for the turn-over of remains from SEA governments to U.S. custody.

RESTORED:  When referring to teeth, a tooth which has had a filling, cap or other type of repair performed on it.

RIP:  Refugee Interview Program.  This program was used to send U.S. interviewers to various refugee camps to interview refugees concerning any knowledge they may possess on un-accounted for Americans.  The interviewers were primarily assigned to Detachment 1 in Bangkok, Thailand.  For example; James Webb was assigned to visit the refugee camps in Thailand, Hong Kong, Macau, Philippines, and Japan.  Jim Coyle was assigned the refugee camps in Malaysia and Indonesia.  As examples.

RIT:  Research Investigative Team.  A special team that is charged with investigating Last Known Alive (LKA) cases and conducting OHP interviews.  Although in actuality all Investigation Teams are assigned this mission.  The primary mission of the RIT is the OHP Program.

RVN:  Republic of Vietnam.

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