(AP) — A forensics lab has opened at Offutt Air Force Base near Omaha with a special mission: identify the remains of missing soldiers, sailors and airmen from past wars.

The lab has been constructed at Offutt Air Force Base inside a section of the massive former Martin bomber plant.

The nearly 23,000-square-foot lab is a satellite of the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, known as JPAC, that’s based in Hawaii.

The accounting command is overseeing the search and identification of the remains of more than 83,000 missing Americans.

After the Sept. 11, 2011, terrorist attacks, officials decided to establish a mainland forensics lab to react quickly when tragedy strikes or terrorists attack.