San Francisco ? The Army is reviewing casualty reports on American soldiers killed in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere since 2001, a response to complaints that it has not always given families accurate information.

The review covers hundreds of casualties in Operation Enduring Freedom, the campaign in Afghanistan, and Operation Iraqi Freedom, two senior military officials said. It also includes American soldiers killed in neighboring countries in support of the two operations.

In coming weeks, the Army will issue a directive formalizing the review, according to the military officials. One spoke Thursday on condition of anonymity because officers at the highest levels of the Army still are making minor changes. The other described the initiative in memos obtained by The Associated Press.

“We are actively screening every Criminal Investigation Command report to ensure that there were no disconnects with the Casualty Reporting System. We are about half way through with that mission,” one of the memos states.

The purpose of the forthcoming Armywide order is to tell units in the field that they must tell the Army’s headquarters of any change in investigative findings that differs from what a family initially was told, a third official said.

Brig. Gen. Anthony A. Cucolo, who leads the Army’s public affairs office, said the Army’s move is not new but a continuing “rigorous and routine review of current casualty cases with outstanding issues.”

Lt. Col. Dan Baggio, an Army spokesman, said that because of the constant turnover of units in Iraq and Afghanistan, it is important to remind troops that the casualty reports must agree with the actual events that occurred when a soldier was killed.

“It’s important to reinforce that the information we provide the families is accurate,” he said.

The step follows high-profile mistakes in telling families the circumstances of soldiers’ deaths.