Introduction

Duty Status – Whereabouts Unknown (DUSTWUN) is a transitory casualty status assigned to United States servicemembers who cannot be located but have not been confirmed dead or captured.

A servicemember can have DUSTWUN status for only ten days.

Refer to Desertion.

Background

US soldier Bowe Bergdahl came to national attention in the United States after spending five years in captivity in Afghanistan; he had left his post in 2009 intending to hike 20 miles to the closest command centre when he was captured by the Taliban.

His disappearance triggered an unsuccessful 45-day “DUSTWUN” manhunt by the US Army.