Photo By Shanita Simmons | Rear Adm. Mark Buzby, commander Joint Task Force Guantanamo, surveys the contents of...... read more read more
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By Petty Officer 2nd Class Nathaniel Moger
Joint Task Force Guantanamo Public Affairs
GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba – Rear Adm. Mark Buzby, commander of Joint Task Force Guantanamo, is looking ahead about the future of the JTF and the evolving nature of its mission.
With Fidel Castro having stepped down from power in Cuba and the upcoming round of military commissions, the world is once again focusing its gaze upon the work being done on the remote Naval Station on Cuba's Southeastern tip. Such scrutiny means that, despite all the accomplishments of the JTF since its inception in 2002, all hands must maintain vigilance in their day-to-day execution of the mission and it looks like that mission will be continuing through the foreseeable future.
"Is it worthwhile to keep Guantanamo open?" contemplated Buzby. "Clearly that is a policy decision for those in Washington to make. I'll say that if you look at the number and type of requests that come in from the intelligence community every week, you could make the argument that there is still a very important requirement out there that the intelligence gathering capability of Guantanamo still serves very well each week."
While the JTF's main mission is the safe and humane detention of enemy combatants, Buzby acknowledges that like all missions, JTF's is changing and growing.
"Clearly we're entering into a whole new era here," explained Buzby of the growing challenges. "We've setup a commissions support group headed up by Brig. Gen. Gregory Zanetti, my deputy. His primary focus is to ensure that we provide everything that the Office of Military Commissions needs to execute those proceedings."
It's a mission that will require a great deal of coordination.
"We're going to run the facilities: all the support, all the security, all the logistics...It's all on us to make that happen flawlessly. We do that right, all the focus will be on the trials and hearings, not on us. We don't want to be the story in this case," said Buzby.
Buzby still cautions against getting caught up in the new facets of the JTF. "Of course we can't drop...our number one mission which is the safe and humane care and custody of the enemy combatants behind the wire right now. So we have to still do that exactly right, but take on this significant mission as well."
Regardless, looking back on the mission, Buzby sees monumental improvements.
"We've gotten a lot smarter," said Buzby. "Since 2002 we've learned a lot about detention operations. We know our detainee population. We know how they act and react in many cases."
There have also been substantial infrastructure improvements.
"We've now built very modern facilities; state-of-the-art incarceration facilities that have helped reduce manpower and made it safer for our guards and more humane for the detainees," said Buzby.
On par with his commitment to the mission is Buzby's commitment to improving the quality of life for his Troopers through renovations of the Tierra Kay housing units.
"We're turning over a new housing unit every three days, which is really good," said Buzby. "All the troopers I've spoken with living in the new units really like the upgrades."
Buzby also hopes to add housing to increase privacy.
"All those cement blocks piled up outside the Navy exchange? Hopefully we'll have new Cuzco units sitting on top of those soon," said Buzby. "Then we can get a lot of troopers into semi-private quarters which will reduce some of the loading in Tierra Kay and some of Camp America West."
Lastly, Buzby urged troopers to continue exercising his personal values of people first, professionalism and being a shipmate/battle buddy.
"Most people that serve believe in these things anyway, so I'm not asking anyone to make any great leaps of faith here," said Buzby. "What I'm asking people to do is redouble it in their minds, put them in the forefront. I continue to be proud beyond words of the job JTF Troopers do on a daily basis. They are truly the unsung heroes of the Global War on Terror. I am honored to serve alongside them."
| Date Taken: | 03.06.2008 |
| Date Posted: | 03.07.2008 09:22 |
| Story ID: | 17107 |
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| Web Views: | 269 |
| Downloads: | 233 |
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