GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba— The Navy Expeditionary Guard Battalion at Joint Task Force Guantanamo strives to perform their mission of fair, firm and impartial treatment with the highest sense of professionalism. This month, the current force will be training a group of new Sailors in mission essentials.
The newest Sailors began their training at Fort Lewis, Wash., and are now in the right-seat, left-seat phase of training. The right-seat, left-seat training process allows the new Troopers to acclimate to the job, and then allows them to take over from the more experienced Sailors. The training is especially important at the NEGB because Sailors filling these positions may not have had previous experience in detention operations.
The NEGB guard force comes from a wide array of job specialties in the Navy. They are a mixture of aviation, surface sailor, and master-at-arms ratings; they are sonar techs, culinary specialists, electricians, welders, and even ordnancemen. Over 60 ratings are represented, and they are trained as one team with one common mission.
Navy Master Chief Petty Officer Edward Moreno, command master chief for the NEGB, said the NEGB mission is comprised of four basic duties which allow for consistency and security.
The first of these duties is the consistent observance of standard operating procedures that create an environment where there are no unknown responses to situations. The procedures have to be flexible enough to handle any and all situations that arise, and give guidance to all Sailors in this group.
"Knowing it is the same procedure for the same situation regardless of where you are is a reassuring concept," said a petty officer first class. "The training we received at Fort Lewis helped us to anticipate what to expect in this environment."
One duty in which the standard operating procedures are especially important is searching detainee quarters and public areas. This ensures both the guard force and the detainees remain safe by eliminating anything that may endanger them.
"We search for weapons, contraband and ordinary items in their area to see if they are being used properly," said a male petty officer second class. "They will try to use just about anything they can get their hands on."
Searches may be initiated by the regular visual checks of detainees. Every guard on a tier or a block will have eyes on a detainee regularly, looking in on the detainees to make sure they are safe and the environment around them is safe. These checks ensure not only that the detainees are safe, but help the Troopers guard information that may compromise operational security, or OPSEC.
Operational security measures in and around the detainees is the fourth and ongoing basic duty. For their safety and the safety of others, the Sailors protect certain operational maneuvers and practices, as well as personal information about each other the detainees should not know.
"The less the detainees know about us, the more impartial and fair we can be," said a female petty officer third class. "You never know what information they would try to use against us or our families."
Moreno said he expects this right-seat, left-seat phase to go smoothly and that the experienced Troopers will bring the new Troops into the team.
"I haven't been disappointed with any of the training yet," Moreno said. "The teams that have been here kind of just put that final edge on things and get them through so they can be part of the team."
To focus on becoming a team, Moreno said he wants the new company to focus on three important things.
"We need to have consistency, need to be able to communicate, and most importantly, we need cohesion," Moreno said. "It's not just a commitment or a contract; you have to know that you're here for something bigger than yourself."
Sailors' names have been omitted to ensure operational security and the safety of the guard force that work in the camps.
JTF Guantanamo conducts safe, humane, legal and transparent care and custody of detainees.
| Date Taken: |
05.08.2009 |
| Date Posted: |
05.13.2009 11:31 |
| Story ID: |
33565 |
| Location: |
GUANTANAMO BAY, CU |
| Web Views: |
151 |
| Downloads: |
117 |
PUBLIC DOMAIN
This work, New guards learn the mission, by SSG David McLean, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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