YOKOSUKA, Japan (NNS) -- Naval Supply Systems Command Fleet Logistics Center (NAVSUP FLC) Yokosuka provided contract support services to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) in the repatriation of remains for three American service members recently recovered by excavation teams.

The NAVSUP FLC Yokosuka Site Singapore team contracted helicopter services to find the remains during excavations with the governments of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia Feb. 17 through April 2. The helicopters used during excavation and repatriation were instrumental to locating Americans still missing in action.

"These contracts provided services for logistics and mission support, warehouse services, communication equipment maintenance, transportation, site surveys, investigative missions, boat charter and recovery missions," said Cmdr. Nicola Gathright, contracting director for NAVSUP FLC Yokosuka. "Our site Singapore team issued 20 blanket purchase agreements for various supplies and services to support the detachments during excavations."

NAVSUP FLC Yokosuka Site Singapore provides contracting services for DPAA within the Asia-Pacific region. Contracts include helicopter support services in Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, key areas of focus by DPAA for missing Americans. Contracts were awarded for long-term logistics support services to the region.

To support the repatriation mission, four indefinite-delivery indefinite-quantity contacts; two mission support services and two helicopter support services contracts; were awarded in fiscal year 2016, totaling $28.3 million.

Gathright said the DPAA detachments were given delegated procurement authority based on their individual needs. Each location received ordering level two authority allowing them to place firm-fixed-price orders for supplies and services up to a set dollar threshold.

"[NAVSUP] FLC Yokosuka has also been supporting DPAA locations with Imprest Fund authority, which is important because most vendors in these locations still do not accept credit cards," she said. "The U.S. State Department began providing funding and oversight to the DPAA detachments in 2016. We also performed on-site final close-out audits for those accounts in the same year."

Remains were discovered during excavations that took place in the provinces of Bac Lieu, Tra Vinh, Khanh Hoa, Gia Lai and Kon Tum. According to DPAA, more than 1,600 Americans are still missing from the Vietnam conflict. This recent repatriation is the 130th since inception of the program back in 1973.

"We don't always get to take the opportunity to reflect on what we do on a daily basis and how that impacts lives," said Capt. Jeffery Davis, commanding officer NAVSUP FLC Yokosuka. "So it's great to see the team be a part of something this significant and to help those families find closure."

NAVSUP FLC Yokosuka, one of eight fleet logistics centers under NAVSUP Global Logistics Support (GLS), is the western Pacific region's largest U.S. Navy logistics command. Headquartered just 26 miles south of Tokyo, the enterprise networks more than 20 sites from Misawa, Japan, to Sydney, Australia; Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean to Guam with a mission to deliver supply and logistics solutions which enable deployed maritime warfighter readiness in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region.

NAVSUP GLS provides global logistics for a global Navy. The organization is made up of approximately 6,300 military and civilian logistics professionals operating from 105 locations worldwide, providing an extensive array of integrated global logistics and contracting services to Navy, Marine Corps, joint operational units, and allied forces across all warfare enterprises.

NAVSUP provides U.S. naval forces with quality supplies and services. With headquarters in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, and employing a diverse, worldwide workforce of more than 22,500 military and civilian personnel, NAVSUP oversees logistics programs in the areas of supply operations, conventional ordnance, contracting, resale, fuel, transportation, and security assistance. In addition, NAVSUP is responsible for quality-of-life issues for naval forces including food service, postal services, Navy Exchanges, and movement of household goods.