A multidisciplinary team of more than 50 forensic specialists, scientists and support personnel from the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, together with experts from the U.S. Army's Central Identification Laboratory in Hawaii, played a major role in Operation Noble Eagle investigations, officials said.

Many of the casualties were badly burned and difficult to identify, an official said. For some of the victims, only pieces of tissue could be found. Of the 189 killed, 125 worked at the Pentagon and 64 were passengers on American Airlines Flight 77.

AFIP's team of forensic pathologists, odontologists, a forensic anthropologist, DNA experts, investigators and support personnel worked for more than two weeks in the mortuary at Dover Air Force Base, Del., and for weeks at the DNA lab in Rockville, Md., to identify the victims of the attack.

"Our staff represented every branch of the service," said Navy Capt. Glenn N. Wagner, AFIP director. "We also received tremendous support from the doctors, nurses and technicians stationed at Dover who participated in the investigation."

The investigation mobilized AFIP assets in many ways. In the hours following the crash Sept. 11, the acting armed forces medical examiner, Air Force Col. Abu Bakr Marzouk, worked with FBI and local Virginia law enforcement officials to create a plan for recovering and identifying the victims.

At the same time, personnel from the Office of the Armed Forces Medical Examiner positioned and staged equipment to begin operations at Dover. Air Force Maj. Bruce Ensign served as AFIP's team leader at the site.

"We immediately called in regional medical examiners from as far away as San Diego to participate," Ensign said.

A total of 12 forensic pathologists, assisted by two AFIP staff pathologists, headed the investigation team.

Also arriving at Dover during those early critical hours were two other key AFIP groups: forensic scientists from OAFME's Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory and oral pathologists from the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology.

AFDIL scientists ensured that data systems and records were available to make DNA identifications, while the oral pathology group created a triage area to conduct positive dental identifications. Contacts were also made with family services personnel in each branch of the military to obtain ante-mortem information and reference material. Mortuary operations were fully under way by the evening of Sept. 13.

AFIP used a well-defined and tested system for conducting the identifications of the Pentagon victims. When remains arrived at the morgue, a scanning device searched for the presence of unexploded ordnance or metallic foreign bodies. A computerized tracking system then assigned numbers to each victim for efficient tracking.

FBI experts collected trace evidence to search for chemicals from explosive devices and conducted fingerprint identifications. Forensic dentistry experts then performed dental charting and comparison with ante-mortem dental records. Full-body radiographs followed to document skeletal fractures and assist in the identification process, followed by autopsy inspection.

At autopsy, forensic pathologists determined the cause and manner of death, aided by a team of forensic anthropologists under the direction of AFIP's Dr. William C. Rodriguez, in determining the race, sex and stature of victims when necessary. The team included four forensic anthropologists from CILHI, who deployed to Dover to assist the OAFME investigation.

"The mission could not have been accomplished without CILHI's assistance," Rodriguez said.

A board-certified epidemiologist managed the tracking system for data collected during the autopsy process, and tissue samples were collected for DNA identification and further toxicology studies.

Every one of the lab's 102 DNA analysts, sample processors, logistics staff and administrative personnel were involved, from collecting, tracking and analyzing DNA samples to preparing DNA reports. For 18 days following the terrorist attacks, AFDIL employees worked on 12-hour shifts, seven days a week to meet the mission requirements.

The Dover mortuary sent the samples back to the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory in Rockville, Md. There, teams of forensic scientists, under the direction of Demris Lee, technical leader of the Nuclear DNA Section, took over the difficult chore of generating a DNA profile of the victims. Their work included not only the Pentagon crash victims, but the victims of the Somerset County, Pa., crash as well.

Forensic photographers, essential to any forensic investigation, documented injuries and personal effects. Finally, mortuary specialists then embalmed, dressed and casketed remains prior to release to next of kin.

"This is the largest mass fatality we've dealt with in recent years," Ensign said. "We have modalities today that we didn't have before. Our investigation was much more technology-intensive."

Ensign said the entire team worked well together.

"Because of the combined effort of all three services and the FBI, we were very pleased with the speed of the identification process," he said. "Essential records and references were submitted to us in a timely way."

All but four of those who worked in the Pentagon were identified, and AFIP identified all but one of the passengers on Flight 77.