Missing in action

Missing in Action, better known as MIA, is a casualty classification used by the United Nations Space Command that refers to members of the UNSC who has been reported missing following a combat mission and whose status as to injury, capture, or death is unknown. Missing combatants must not have been otherwise accounted for as either Killed in Action or a prisoner of war.

When SPARTAN-IIs are killed, they are reported as Missing in Action or Wounded in Action to create the illusion that Spartans never die. This helped boost morale in the UNSC. SPARTAN-IIIs are not normally subject to this, as the very existence of the program remains classified. However, at least two were listed as such in accordance with the tradition by Kurt Ambrose.

Trivia

 * Randall, James, all the Spartans aboard the Spirit of Fire (Alice-130, Jerome-092, Douglas-042), Gray Team, Black Team and Jun-A266 are the only Spartans who truly became missing without ever being found.
 * John-117 was considered Missing in Action due to the fact that there was no evidence that he died, despite Terrence Hood's quote, "Hard to believe he's dead." With the help of Cortana and the, the Chief eventually managed to return to Earth on his own during the Didact's attack on Earth, returning just in time to save the Earth from a grave threat. Afterwards, he was no longer declared Missing In Action.
 * During the video log in the level 343 Guilty Spark, the automated video recorder regards Wallace A. Jenkins as possibly MIA, due to the sudden termination of his recording as a result of his infection by the Flood.
 * Both John-117 and Kelly-087 were briefly considered Missing In Action. Both were eventually found again.

Related pages

 * Killed in action (KIA)
 * Wounded in action (WIA)

External

 * Wikipedia's article on "Missing in action"