The Army has moved to tighten the clock when a soldier goes missing, and the new directive demands urgency the service has lacked until now.
Issued by Army Secretary Dan Driscoll last week, the policy orders commanders to act within hours instead of days, and that is a welcome shift for those who have long called for tougher accountability.
Under the directive, commanders have three hours to classify a service member as absent unknown and eight hours to notify the family once the absence is discovered.
Commanders also get a 48 hour window to determine whether the disappearance appears voluntary or could be something more serious, therefore forcing quicker decisions and earlier involvement by law enforcement.
During that initial period commanders are required to alert local Army law enforcement, enter the soldier’s name into the National Crime Information Center database and issue a be on the lookout notice while seeking help from civilian police.
If the service member is not found after two days commanders must decide by a preponderance of evidence whether the status will change to AWOL or to DUSTWUN, Duty Status Whereabouts Unknown.
The procedural tightening replaces the older rule that gave commanders 24 hours to account for a soldier before declaring them AWOL unless clear evidence indicated a voluntary absence.
This is the right kind of reform because it closes dangerous gaps that critics have rightly highlighted and it puts public safety and family notification front and center.
Conservative leaders from across the national security arena have argued that it is long past time for the Army to behave more like a disciplined organization, and this directive moves the institution in that direction.
President Trump has consistently urged strong support for the troops and strict accountability in the ranks, and this policy reflects that approach by emphasizing rapid action and law enforcement cooperation.
At the same time, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has pushed for reforms that prioritize soldier safety and unit responsibility, and this initiative aligns with those priorities even as it was implemented by Secretary Driscoll.
The change comes after disturbing cases that exposed fatal lapses, most notably the disappearance and murder of Army Specialist Vanessa Guillén in 2020.
An independent review following that tragedy found “inaction in critical areas,” had taken root over time, creating what the commission called a “paradigm of benign neglect.”
Those words should haunt every leader who oversees troops because they describe systemic failure that can produce avoidable deaths.
Vanessa Guillén’s attorney, Natalie Khawam Case, praised the policy update while lamenting it came too late for her client.
“If they had this policy in place at the time Vanessa went missing, the Army would have quickly contacted the police and actually started searching for her themselves,” she said, and she added that there are no guarantees.
“You never know, it could have prevented her death,” Khawam Case said, and that uncertainty makes clear why faster action matters.
The new rules also require commanders to report as missing any soldier who “indicates the potential for self-harm and is not located during the initial 48 hours,” which underscores the policy’s attention to mental health and personal risk in missing person cases.
This directive should not be treated as a mere memo.
It must be supported with the resources and training necessary to turn procedures into results, and that includes better coordination with civilian law enforcement and improved tracking tools for commanders on the ground.
At the same time, leadership at every level must accept responsibility when timelines are missed or when law enforcement is not immediately engaged.
American families expect and deserve an Army that reacts swiftly when a loved one goes missing, and they deserve clear communications so they are not left in the dark.
This policy is a conservative win because it restores standards, reduces ambiguity for commanders and empowers police to act quickly.
It also represents progress in restoring the trust that was eroded by past failures, and it sets a new baseline for accountability that political leaders like President Trump and Secretary Hegseth have long championed.
Implementation will be the test, and the Army must prove it can meet the new timelines consistently while protecting service members and supporting their families.