Deploying to Guantanamo Bay

thebalancecareers.com ^ | April 15, 2019 | KATHLEEN T. RHEM

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NAVAL STATION GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba -- This is not your typical deployment location in the war on terror. Troops here get to scuba dive in their off time and have an assortment of restaurants and bars to unwind in at the end of long days spent guarding enemy combatants.

The troops who manage the detention facility here belong to Joint Task Force Guantanamo. They're deployed for varying tour lengths from all services, both active and reserve components.

"They come here on deployment, and they're actually coming to a place that is not as bad as (many) deployments," said Navy Capt. Leslie J. McCoy, commander of the naval base.

JTF Guantanamo is a tenant organization on the base. The 2,200 JTF personnel live alongside the roughly 9,000 permanent-party sailors, family members, U.S. government civilians and contractors, and third-country nationals who reside and work here.

Sailors assigned to the base typically come for three-year tours and can bring their families. Deployment length for troops assigned to JTF Guantanamo depends on their service. Soldiers typically deploy for one year, Marines and sailors for six months, and airmen for four-month stints.

Living conditions vary considerably within the JTF. Enlisted servicemembers generally live in prefabricated individual buildings, which they call "houses" with a touch of cynicism. The shipping-container-like quarters each house four to six servicemembers. The troops typically divide the space as evenly as possible and then partition "rooms" by hanging blankets and shower curtains.

Each building contains a bathroom with a toilet and a sink. And men's and women's community latrines, with showers, sinks and toilet stalls, are located within each group of quarters.

Senior enlisted members and officers generally live in converted Navy family housing left over from when the base housed a larger population of permanent- party personnel. For instance, one two-bedroom apartment might be assigned to four junior officers.

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GITMO is larger than I thought, staffed differently than I imagined and has more facilities. The article says detained prisoner population increased more than 3 years ago. Personally, I imagine the uptick really went up steeply around Jan 20, 2017.

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