Photo By Sgt. Joseph Scozzari | Navy Cmdr. Jeffrey Hayhurst shows Rear Adm. Mike Tillotson, the commander of the Navy...... read more read more
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By Petty Officer 2nd Class Nathaniel Moger
Joint Task Force Guantanamo Public Affairs
GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba – The commander of the Navy Expeditionary Combat Command visited Joint Task Force Guantanamo March 1-4 to spend time with Sailors assigned to guard detainees as members of the Navy Expeditionary Guard Battalion, observe and evaluate NEGB detainee operations and tour the facilities.
Rear Adm. Mike Tillotson left very impressed.
"It's been an extremely valuable experience coming down here," said Tillotson. "The mission is much more complex and much more involved than I had previously thought."
The NEGB provides Navy manpower to the Joint Detention Group, which along with the Army's 525th Military Police Battalion, handles the face-to-face contact with detained enemy combatants. This means being constantly vigilant in a number of different scenarios.
"These guards are required to be with those individuals whenever they come out or go into those cells, whenever they go to a medical visit or a lawyer visit," said Tillotson. "They are in close personal contact to make sure the detainees don't cause personal harm to themselves and that they're adequately protected."
Tillotson's senior enlisted leader, Force Master Chief Tony Santino, was impressed by how aware NEGB Sailors were aware of their pivotal role in the Global War on Terror.
"Everybody I've talked to is locked on and understands how important the mission is and how it relates to the war," said Santino. "Not just the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, but the war they're fighting everyday here."
Besides simply keeping enemy combatants off the battlefield, JTF Guantanamo has an intelligence gathering mission that is making a contemporary impact on theater and national levels, something both Navy and Army components of the JDG understand couldn't happen without their service.
"It has been phenomenal to witness the professionalism of the groups involved and the focus and dedication and understanding that what they do here is helping to create actionable intelligence that is saving lives on the battlefield and likely preventing terrorist attacks against the homeland," remarked Tillotson.
The NECC's senior leaders weren't here to simply observe NEGB operations; they were here to evaluate them in terms of the overall NECC mission, which is to manage the readiness and deployment of approximately 40,000 expeditionary Sailors in every theater of operation, including in Guantanamo Bay.
The NECC organizes, develops and equips the various expeditionary units being utilized by combatant commanders across the globe. This means adapting to evolving missions, such as joint services missions like the JTF.
"When we initially started the stand up for the NEGB, it was comprised of individual augmentees," said Tillotson.
NECC recognized this as a potential problem that required a solution.
"Over time we have commissioned a unit with a separate unit identification code as a command," explained Tillotson. "NEGB Sailors go through training and come down here as a unit. This gives them an opportunity to form up as a team before they arrive."
Aside from the increase in teamwork that comes from training as a unit before deployment, by making the NEGB a unique duty station, the NECC has changed the type of Sailors looking to come to Guantanamo.
"Since Sailors are now ordered to NEGB on PCS (permanent change of station) orders, you actually get people negotiating for the orders," said Tillotson. "You're more likely to end up with individuals who understand what the mission is and volunteer for the mission. Personnel that volunteer are going to be better prepared for what they see."
It's a win-win situation, as willing Sailors do a better job at their detention duties. They also come fully supported by leaders who are also team members.
"They come here with a commander and with senior enlisted leaders, so there's a command structure that provides for the better care of the Sailors," said Tillotson. "It also provides for a more cohesive, focused group that accomplishes the mission of safe and humane care and custody of the detainees.
| Date Taken: | 03.04.2008 |
| Date Posted: | 03.05.2008 08:50 |
| Story ID: | 17018 |
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| Web Views: | 234 |
| Downloads: | 214 |
This work, Expeditionary Combat Commander Impressed by Guantanamo Sailors, by PO2 Nathaniel Moger, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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