NYC-WTC_000174805

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

AFIP Letter / Vol. 159, No. 5 / October 2001 11

Noble Eagle from page I Operation Noble Ea^le: AFIP utilized a well-defined and On the front line: OAFME’s Bob Veasey tested system for conducting the identifi­ cations of the Pentagon victims. When ensures investigators are ready to go remains arrived at the morgue, a scan­ ning device searched for the presence of ob Veasey, OAFME’s chief of Operational Investigations, is often on the front unexploded ordinance or metallic 1-^ lines following military aircraft mishaps. Veasey oversees and manages foreign bodies. A computerized tracking JLJ logistics issues for OAFME investigators during search-and-recovery operations system then assigned numbers to each by obtaining equipment, ensuring lodging and serving as the OAFME point-of-contact victim for efficient tracking. FBI in the field to help expedite mission requirements. The team is mandated to launch experts collected trace evidence to worldwide in a number of hours, and Veasey makes sure equipment and supplies are ■ search for chemicals from explosive packed and ready to go. “We’re like firemen; we respond when we get the call,” he devices and conducted fingerprint said. identifications. Forensic dentistry And when the call came on September 11, Vea.$ey packed, loaded and shipped experts from the Department of Oral and supplies and equipment to Dover. “We prestaged (packed) everything we had in my Maxillofacial Pathology then performed office within 6 hours once we received notification that we were going to Dover Air dental charting and comparison with Force Base,” he said. “The antemortem dental records. Full-body H|| truck left AFIP the next radiographs followed to document morning, headed to skeletal fractures and assist in the Dover.” identification process, followed by Veasey ordered equipment autopsy inspection. •: J for the forensic team of At autopsy, forensic pathologist.s HHi; pathologists, anthropolo- determined the cause and manner of gists, odontologists, and death, aided by forensic anthropologist ^■1 other mortuary workers Dr. William C. Rodriguez in determin­ who had been temporarily ing the race, sex, and stature of victims assigned to work at when necessary. A board-certified hHi Dover’s Port Mortuary in epidemiologist managed the tracking support of Operation system for data collected during the Noble Eagle. autopsy process, and tissue samples were “The operation at Dover collected for DNA identification and was so big, and the further toxicologic studies. Forensic ' forensic teams and support photographers, essential to any forensic Bob Veas^^y with sitpylie!; and equipment used by OAFME staff. personnel kept using up so investigation, documented injuries and many supplies that I had to personal effects. Finally, mortuary constantly order more,” he said. specialists then embalmed, dressed, and As the number of casualties increased, and with it the requirement for expanded casketed remains prior to release to next- morgue capabilities, Veasey had to estimate and order additional supplies within 24 of-kin. hours. “We were also put on alert for possible World Trade Center casualties and For 8 days a full complement of AFIP responded to the Flight 93 crash in Pennsylvania,” he said. A.s a result, Veasey ex­ forensic specialists worked 12-hour panded the OAFME mass casualty response capability from 300 to 1,000, where it shifts to complete the operation, “Thi.s is remain.s today if needed, the largest mass fatality we've dealt with While Veasey is accustomed to working on cra,sh cases in which there are causalities, in recent years,” Ensign said. “We have the terrorists attack at the Pentagon and in Pennsylvania is a tragedy all by itself. “This modalitie.s today that we didn’t have was very personal to me because a lot of the people killed were military, and I’m retired before. Our investigation was much military,” he said. “We also had civilians and children on the aircraft. My desire is to more technology-intensive.” recover, identify, and return the victims to their families so they can start the closure Ensign noted that the entire team process,” worked well together. “Because of the - Michele Hammonds combined effort of all three services and the FBI, we were very pleased with the speed of the identification process. Pennsylvania,” he said. “Fortunately our assigned by the various services helped Essential records and references were logistical support was terrific in helping in the investigation. “It was a terrific submitted to us in a timely way.” us get material in.” team effort,” he said. Logistical help from AFIP also played Others also played essential roles. an important role. “We had tremendous Histotechnicians from the Department of logistical issues obtaining equipment, Scientific Laboratories served as autopsy especially with additional demands in technicians, assisting pathologists with New York City and Somerset County, the remains, while special agents

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