Joint Task Force Guantanamo Marine Stays Busy After Work Is Done

Photo By Staff Sgt. Jerry Rushing | Marine Staff Sgt. Joseph Crider enjoys his free time by golfing most Sundays at Guantanamo's Yatera Seca golf course. Crider is currently on a six month tour serving in the Joint Task Force logistics office where he processes all transactions regarding cargo shipments. JTF Guantanamo conducts safe and humane care and custody of detained enemy combatants. The JTF conducts interrogation operations to collect strategic intelligence in support of the Global War on Terror and supports law enforcement and war crimes investigations. JTF Guantanamo is committed to the safety and security of American service members and civilians working inside its detention facilities.  

03.14.2008

Story by Staff Sgt. Jerry Rushing 

Joint Task Force Guantanamo Public Affairs

By Staff Sgt. Jerry Rushing
Joint Task Force Guantanamo Public Affairs

GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba – Have you ever wondered how things get out of Guantanamo? The answer is simple - Marine Staff Sgt. Joseph Crider. This logistics operator is considered by many to be the key to getting any cargo to and from the Joint Task Force.

Crider grew up in Bernie, a small, southeastern Missouri town. He wasn't sure what he was going to do after he got out of school so he decided to join the Army National Guard while still in high school.

"My junior year summer I went to boot camp on the split training program," said Crider. "After my graduation, I went back to the military life and entered the AIT (advanced individual training) portion to become a truck driver."

After he graduated from AIT, he married his girlfriend and decided he wanted to get out of the Army National Guard and become a full-time Marine. He then packed his bags and went to his second boot camp, only this time it was the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego.

"The three months while I was Marine boot camp were the longest three months of my life," said Crider.

Crider added that it is hard to believe, but the Army boot camp was more physically challenging than the Marine boot camp. However, he conceded the Marine boot camp was more mentally challenging.

Over the next few years, Crider worked out of Camp Lejeune, N.C., where he received what most would consider bad news.

"In 1995 I was diagnosed with atrial fibrillation," said Crider. "My heart misfires almost on a daily basis, but I would not let it stop me. I kept on going."

For the last 13 years, not only has he stayed in the Marine Corps but he has been able to keep his first class on the personal fitness test, qualify expert with the rifle and pistol, graduate from the Staff Sergeant Academy, and finished all his yearly training; all of this with a heart condition.

"Atrial fibrillation is an abnormal heart rhythm that involves the two upper chambers of the heart," said Crider. "The top chambers don't beat. Instead they quiver like jelly shaking. Actually, it's doing about 300 – 400 beats per minute."

While in Okinawa, Japan, in 1998, he had a short burst of atrial fibrillation that wouldn't stop. It sent him into the hospital where he spent 17 hours in the intensive care unit. After waiting over 17 hours his heart beat slowed back to normal. Since then he has only had short lapses of the problem.

This deployment is not the first for Crider. He has deployed to Korea twice, Australia once, and did a six month 'pump' on sea duty.

"Guantanamo is not a bad place to be deployed to," said Crider. "There are plenty of things to keep you busy when the work day is done."

Crider keeps his weekends busy by snorkeling on Saturdays and hitting the links on Sunday mornings. He tries to get in 18 holes at least once every week. He is also in school earning his bachelor's degree in education.

After this deployment, Crider plans to go back to Camp Lejeune and finish his remaining two years so he can retire from the Marines.

"After my retirement, I would like to stay in logistics, maybe contracted out by the government. If that falls through, then I'll have finished my degree in teaching and maybe teach history or science," said Crider.

So the next time you see things being loaded up on the barge or on any of the aircraft leaving Guantanamo, you'll know who did all the logistics – Marine Staff Sgt. Joseph Crider.

• Date Taken: 03.14.2008
• Date Posted: 03.18.2008 11:16
• Story ID: 17478