When a military team returns from a recovery mission with remains, the remains are escorted aboard a USAF jet and flown to Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii.

Once the plane arrives at Hickam Air Force Base, the remains are met by military personnel Honor guards from each branch of service in full dress uniform.  Each of the remains are carried from the plane to a holding area briefly, where civilian and military personnel stand by while dignitaries perform the Repatriation Ceremony to honor our fallen soldiers who have returned to U.S. soil.

After the Repatriation Ceremony, the remains are escorted by military personnel on a bus to the U.S. Army Central Identification Laboratory (CILHI) at Hickam.  It is where the CILHI Scientific Staff of Anthropologists process the remains for identification.