History
In 1992, Operation Sea Signal was established to prepare for a mass migration of refugees from Haiti and Cuba. In 1994, Operation Sea Signal led to the creation of Joint Task Force 160. JTF 160 was responsible for housing and processing more than 40,000 migrants awaiting repatriation or parole to the United States. Camp X-Ray was established to segregate migrants who had committed crimes such as theft, assault and battery, prostitution and black-market activities from other migrants and from U.S. civilians and military service members at Guantanamo.
In 1996, Operation Sea Signal came to an end. Camp X-Ray was abandoned.
In December 2001, after the September 11 terrorist attacks, Joint Task Force 160 was reactivated. Camp X-Ray was prepared as a temporary location for detention operations. In January 2002, the first detainees were transferred to Guantanamo Bay and housed in Camp X-Ray. The International Committee of the Red Cross marked its first visit six days later. The ICRC has continued quarterly visits up to 2010. In February 2002, Joint Task Force 170 was created as the intelligence task force to work side by side with Joint Task Force 160.
In April 2002, construction of the new 410-bed Camp Delta (Camps 1, 2, 3) was completed. The detainees were moved from Camp X-Ray to Camp Delta that month. In November 2002 Joint Task Force 160 and 170 were merged to create Joint Task Force Guantanamo.
The Joint Detention Group is one of the components of the Task Force. It is the organization assigned to guarding the captives, and maintaining camp security. The guards within the Joint Detention Group come from the United States Army, United States Navy, and other United States Armed Services.
In 2009, guards outnumbered prisoners in Guantanamo by more than five to one.
The officers commanding the Joint Detention Group have included:
- Colonel Adolph McQueen, 2002
- Colonel Michael Bumgarner, 2006
- Colonel Bruce Vargo, 2008, 2009
Read more about this topic: Joint Task Force Guantanamo
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