Bringing the Win 'Home'

Photo By Maj. Gretel Weiskopf | Navy Seaman Anastasia Wells has been deployed to Joint Task Force Guantanamo Bay for only six months but has used that time to make a big impression on those around her. Wells won JTF Guantanamo Junior Trooper of the Quarter after studying and going before a board of senior enlisted leaders. JTF Guantanamo conducts safe, humane, legal and transparent care and custody of detained enemy combatants, including those convicted by military commission and those ordered released. The JTF conducts intelligence collection, analysis and dissemination for the protection of detainees and personnel working in JTF Guantanamo facilities and in support of the Global War on Terror. JTF Guantanamo provides support to the Office of Military Commissions, to law enforcement and to war crimes investigations. The JTF conducts planning for and on order responds to Caribbean mass migration operations.  

02.06.2009

Story by Sgt. Gretel Weiskopf 

Joint Task Force Guantanamo Public Affairs

By Gretel Sharpee
Joint Task Force Guantanamo

GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba - When you have been in the military only one year, standing in front of a crowd of senior enlisted members can be daunting. But when they start hurling questions at you, ranging in topics from the U.S. Constitution to current events, the situation can become much, much worse.

"When my chief nominated me I was a little surprised, but then I felt the pressure of supporting the department and instantly wanted to do really well," said Seaman Anastasia Wells.

Wells was sent straight to Joint Task Force Guantanamo after her initial training.

"My dad is former Navy so that is why I joined the Navy, but there is a long line of my family members who have been in the military – I think it is in our blood to serve," Wells said.

Once nominated to compete for the Junior Trooper of the Quarter, Wells said she studied everything she could find and had a lot of help from her chiefs and leading petty officers. The only part of the study material she found challenging was studying the Constitution.

"We fight to defend the Constitution every day but it was so hard to remember all of the amendments," she commented.

Wells has also taken it upon herself to be active in the Guantanamo community by volunteering at the children's center and being the youth cheerleading coach. She also finds time to take classes at Columbia College in hopes of finishing her associate's degree before her deployment here is over.

"My biggest take-away is how honored and humbled I am," Wells said about her time here at Guantanamo thus far. "I work with so many smart Troopers who work hard. It was great to represent the group and bring the win home for us."

Since winning the Junior Trooper of the Quarter, Wells was able to tell her father briefly that she won.

"He just laughed – he was so proud," she said.

• Date Taken: 02.06.2009
• Date Posted: 02.10.2009 08:52
• Story ID: 29835