Micronesia Sun Bright News from the Deep Pacific
Photo Sources: Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Department of State U.S. Asia Pacific Media Hub, U.S. Embassy Kolonia, U.S. Coast Guard Forces Micronesia, Project Recover, U.S. Navy
By Christopher CottrellJuly 2, 2026, Federated States of Micronesia__In honor of #USA250, Micronesia Sun spoke with two American officers who have dedicated their lives to service for the American people and are also implementing ongoing U.S. commitments to the people of the Compact of Free Association countries of the Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, and Palau: Kelly K. McKeague, Director of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA), and Captain Jennifer Conklin, lead for the U.S. Coast Guard’s Operation Blue Pacific for regional safety, security and resilience.
A retired Air Force Major General, Director McKeague spoke to the Micronesia Sun about ongoing efforts to work with closely local authorities to recover remains of U.S. soldiers still missing from World War II, with many planes at the bottom of the ocean or lagoons. Captain Conklin spoke about Operation Blue Pacific, and specifically the COFA state efforts of Operation Rematau—which as this is typed is preparing emergency action for relief efforts for a Tropical Depression headed into Guam and the Commonwealth of the Mariana Islands, which are still recovering from Typhoon Sinlaku that devastated the islands in mid-April 2026.
Photo Caption: Kelly K. McKeague, Director of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA)
Captain Jennifer Conklin, lead for the U.S. Coast Guard’s Operation Blue Pacific
From the battlefields of World War II to securing waves of freedom against illegal fishing, drug smuggling, human trafficking, regional security threats, and coming storms, Marshall Islands, Federated States Micronesia, and Palau are front in center to Director McKeague and Captain Conklin.
As part of the Department of States’ U.S. Asia Media Hub press briefing, Director McKeague addressed a Micronesia Sun question on current activities, saying “Well, let’s start with Palau. Palau has been a tremendous partner of ours. We work with both their – several ministries within Palau, but primarily their historical office, and they have been helpful to us. Again, many of the leads that come to DPAA result from leads that come from citizens and local – the local populace.
“So in Palau we have many underwater missions that are conducted both by DPAA teams along with some of these private partners. In Micronesia, particularly in FSM, we have 780 that are missing from Micronesia, and these losses, again, primarily we are working in Chuuk, we are working in Yap, and just this past year alone we have three underwater sites that we investigated in Chuuk Lagoon, and we are ready to excavate – in other words, to actually send divers to recover what we hope to be remains of pilots that are missing in Chuuk Lagoon.”
Director McKeague continued, “It’s interesting that the chaos of World War II oftentimes, as the army, which was – the U.S. Army was charged with collecting remains shortly after hostilities ended. They did the best they could in finding remains, trying to identify them onsite. Back then DNA did not exist, and so oftentimes remains that were unidentifiable were brought home to the United States or in the American cemetery in Manila and buried as Unknowns. Well, three of these Unknowns came from losses, remains that were recovered from Yap, and two years ago we identified three Navy – actually, one Navy and two Army service members that were recovered from Yap, unidentifiable, and then buried as an Unknown here.”
He added, “And again, no different than any other country, we benefit greatly from strong relations and cooperation from the governments throughout the Micronesia area.”
Captain Conklin echoed these sentiments whilst addressing the Micronesia Sun as part of another Department of States’ U.S. Asia Media Hub press briefing where she explained the U.S. Coast Guard’s Operation Blue Pacific and Operation Rematau missions in the region.
According to U.S. Coast Guard Forces Micronesia/Sector Guam email response to Micronesia Sun, “Operation Blue Pacific is the U.S. Coast Guard’s overarching campaign to expand presence and partnerships across Oceania, supporting Pacific Island nations through maritime law enforcement, search and rescue, and resource protection. It anchors persistent Coast Guard engagement throughout the region.”
They further stated to the Micronesia Sun that, “Operation Rematau is the U.S. Coast Guard’s operational effort to protect the maritime sovereignty and security of the Freely Associated States: the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of Palau, and the Republic of the Marshall Islands. ‘Rematau’ refers to heritage and people of the deep sea, reflecting the operation’s focus on our neighboring Pacific Island partners and their waters.”
In Captain Conklin’s own words, she said that Operation Blue Pacific is the, “Coast Guard’s overarching effort in the region to bring our unique capabilities and our maritime authorities together to promote safety, security, and resiliency across the Pacific Islands and Oceania.”
She continued, “I think the Coast Guard is a particularly relevant partner in Oceania. Obviously, with our maritime routes and our capabilities and our focus on maritime governance, we work with the Pacific Island partners very well, whether it’s in law enforcement space, if it’s in search and rescue, port security. We know all of our ports, almost all of our commodities coming through our seaports. So having safe, secure, dependable seaports is vital.
“So that’s just a couple of the ways we work with our Pacific Island partners. We also do joint surface and air patrols. We develop contingency plans for pollution response. And then we also work to ensure that we can recover quickly, whether it’s from heavy weather situations like a cyclone or if there was a mass rescue event – we want to be prepared for those types of events as well.”
Captain Conklin continued, “Information sharing is particularly important in this region. It’s such a vast and complex region. A lot of different cultural partners in the region. So the more we can share information, the more that we can collaborate together, I think that the better off and the stronger, the more resilient the whole region will be. Because at the end of the day, we really just want a stable, prosperous, and safe region.”
Asked by the Micronesia Sun about the two “narco-submarines” that had washed up in the Marshall Islands recently, Captain Conklin said, “So the Coast Guard definitely works very closely with our Marshallese partners to deter drug smuggling and human trafficking as well as other transnational maritime crimes. And we’ve kind of actually broken off the three Freely Associated States into an operation that we now call Operation Rematau, just so that we can kind of focus more closely on what those specific issues are. We definitely are going to continue to maintain our relationships with them.”
She added, “Obviously, under the Compact of Free Association, we look to advance a secure and open, prosperous Pacific. And as we get more resources in the region, between Guam and Hawaii, obviously, there’s the corridor of those three Freely Associated States. So I think we work very closely with all three of those nations and tie their security closely to ours.”
