Photo By Petty Officer 2nd Class Nathaniel Moger | (From the left) Air Force 1st Sgt. Scott Clarkson, Lt. Col. Frederick Olson and Maj....... read more read more
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By Nathaniel Moger
Joint Task Force Guantanamo Public Affairs
GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba - The Expeditionary Legal Complex on U.S. Naval Station Guantanamo Bay is sure to be the site of history making and groundbreaking events. The ongoing military commissions of detained enemy combatants is a lightning rod of controversy, polarizing people into camps of ardent supporters and fierce opponents.
The sensitive process of conducting a trial requires far more than a room, a couple of benches and a place to bang a gavel. It also requires more than attorneys, a defendant and a judge.
For every one of these major players there are dozens of others in support roles, from the guards guaranteeing the safety of detainees and those around them to the external security specialists providing logistical support.
But before any of them can begin to do their jobs, they need to have a state of the art facility and those don't just build themselves. Air National Guard engineering units have been upgrading the existing facilities at McCalla airfield to accommodate the commissions, and members of 474th Expeditionary Civil Engineering Squadron from the Texas Army National Guard are continuing that mission.
"You could say we took the baton from our predecessors," said Air Force Lt. Col. Frederick Olison, 474th commander. "Our primary mission going in was the sustainment, operations support and maintenance of the facilities. Once we got here we realized, due to the increased security requirements, we had a bit of construction left to do."
The ELC needs to not only accommodate the physical security concerns of the commissions process, but also the information security concerns. Due to the classified nature of much of the evidence in the cases, the ELC – out of necessity – became a sensitive compartmented information facility, or SCIF.
"Originally it was a normal courtroom, but now we've transformed it," said Olison. "They'll be dealing with a lot of classified information so it's important to make sure that information is not leaked out."
Due to the fact that some of the documents being handled will be heavily classified, the 474th needed to take extra measures in the information security domain.
"There were issues in the way the facilities were constructed," said Air Force Maj. Kevin McKinney, 474th deputy commander and project engineer. "We made changes to the electrical systems so they're much different than the way they were originally constructed. Now you're not getting any of the RF-type radiation going outside."
Transforming the ELC into a facility capable of handling top secret/SCI documents wasn't the only thing the 474th did. The commissions process requires a lot of manpower, and all those bodies need a room and a bed. The 474th was more than willing to take on this task by installing double-wide trailer style living units, similar to the Cuzco barracks, for the attorneys and their staff.
"The prosecution and defense teams have cuzcos now, and they can stay there when court is in session," said McKinney. "The purpose of those, instead of an open-bay tent, is to provide them some extra privacy, so they can get some work done at night."
All of this extra construction on a previously fallow airfield meant the installation and maintenance of the unseen support structures needed to sustain modern human life that most take for granted: electricity, sewage, phone lines and the like.
"We've got the cuzcos and a gigantic tent city," explained McKinney while pointing at the sprawling mass of tents. "There are six miles of wires and a couple miles of sewer lines. Who knows how many air conditioning units we've got. So, we're putting in the work to maintain all of that."
Given the wide variety of responsibilities given to the 474th, the squadron draws much of their technical expertise not only from their military training but from the fundamental nature of being a reserve unit.
"You'd be surprised with the level of expertise that our people have gotten from their civilian jobs," said Olison. "It's a force multiplier. For instance one of our guys who works on our environmental control units works for Johnson Controls for his civilian job. He could probably build you one from the ground up."
While being activated and pulled from their civilian lives can be a demoralizing factor, these Texas Air National Guardsmen have jumped into this job with the best of attitudes.
"I challenge any other unit to show higher morale. Happy people work harder," said 474th 1st Sgt. Scott Clarkson, who also noted that many of his people could be off doing other things. "There are a lot of people here with degrees and high paying jobs back home that come out here and enjoy what they do. They just like to swing a hammer."
| Date Taken: | 05.02.2008 |
| Date Posted: | 05.08.2008 10:04 |
| Story ID: | 19212 |
| Location: | GUANTANAMO BAY, CU |
| Web Views: | 317 |
| Downloads: | 216 |
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