Fy25 Vietnam Wartime Accounting Initiative Cooperative Agreements

The U.S. Department of Defense, through the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy and the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs, has announced the Fiscal Year 2025 Vietnam Wartime Accounting Initiative Cooperative Agreements. This program is designed to support U.S.-Vietnam defense cooperation by addressing war legacy issues related to missing personnel from the Vietnam War. The initiative builds upon more than thirty years of diplomatic and cooperative relations between the United States and Vietnam, emphasizing shared commitments to reconciliation, stability, and regional security. The historical context for this initiative is rooted in the aftermath of the Vietnam War, during which 2,646 U.S. personnel were reported missing in action. As of August 2025, 1,067 have been repatriated, while an estimated 200,000 to 300,000 Vietnamese remain unaccounted for. In 2018, the Vietnamese government formally requested U.S. assistance to locate and identify its missing persons. This cooperative framework is intended to respond to that request by leveraging American institutional expertise, partnerships, and archival resources to help Vietnam expand its accounting and recovery efforts. The Notice of Funding Opportunity identifies three specific projects to be funded. Texas Tech University will digitize and share archival information, including records from the Combined Document Exploitation Center, and facilitate veteran-to-veteran exchanges. Mission: POW-MIA will conduct veteran exchanges while collecting, analyzing, and sharing mass grave information. The U.S.-ASEAN Business Council Institute will develop a public-private partnership to build Vietnam’s capabilities in locating and recovering its missing personnel. Each award is funded separately, with allocated amounts of $540,536 for Texas Tech, $284,590 for Mission: POW-MIA, and $500,000 for the U.S.-ASEAN Business Council Institute. Eligibility for these awards is restricted exclusively to the three named organizations. No other applicants will be considered. Each applicant must follow specific submission guidelines, including file formatting, page limits, and use of the Grants.gov platform. Required forms include the SF-424, SF-424B assurances, SF-424A budget information, and the optional SF-LLL lobbying disclosure. Project narratives must not exceed ten pages and must outline proposed activities, implementation approaches, anticipated outcomes, and measurable milestones. Budgets are subject to a 15 percent indirect cost rate cap. Applications will be evaluated on compliance with formatting requirements, technical merit, and alignment with the stated objectives of the initiative. The government may request clarification during the review process and reserves the right to negotiate cooperative agreement terms with selected recipients. All submissions will be safeguarded against unauthorized disclosure, though applicants are advised that information may still be subject to release under the Freedom of Information Act. Proprietary information should be clearly marked within submissions. The award process includes notification by email from the Grants Officer, with evaluations conducted on a rolling basis. Only a signed Notice of Award from an authorized Department of Defense grants officer constitutes approval to obligate and expend funds. Successful awardees will be required to comply with federal administrative, reporting, and national policy requirements, including nondiscrimination laws, environmental protections, and conflict-of-interest regulations. Recipients must also submit financial and performance reports quarterly, with additional reporting required under federal transparency statutes. Key contacts for this opportunity include Grants Officer Michael Fanizzo (michael.j.fanizzo.civ@mail.mil), Program Office Contact Christopher Lindley (christopher.h.lindley.civ@mail.mil), and Grants Specialist Diane Clarke (diane.r.clarke.civ@mail.mil). All applications must be submitted via Grants.gov unless a waiver is requested and approved. The Department intends for each cooperative agreement to begin with a base year and extend for up to four option periods, providing a structured multi-year approach to supporting Vietnam’s accounting and recovery efforts.

Mark proprietary info, comply with formatting, start SAM and Grants.gov early