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Guantanamo Bay holiday: Deployed 188th CES focuses on upgrades to Guantanamo facilities during holiday season

  • Published
  • By Army Spc. Tiffany Addair and Capt. Heath Allen
  • JTF Guantanamo Public Affairs and 188th Public Affairs
GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba --  The 1943 holiday hit "I'll be Home for Christmas" just won't have the same ring to it for many members of the 188th Fighter Wing this holiday season.

Approximately 50 members of the 188th's Civil Engineering Squadron are spending the holiday away from home. The 188th CES departed their home station in Fort Smith, Ark., July 24, 2009, to embark on a six-month deployment to Cuba where they joined the 474th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron at U.S. Naval Station Guantanamo Bay in support of Joint Task Force Guantanamo.

The primary objective of JTF Guantanamo's 474th ECES is to handle construction issues at Camp Justice and the Expeditionary Legal Complex in support of military commissions at the naval station.

The 188th joined with elements of the Maryland Air National Guard's 175th Air Wing, Illinois Air National Guard's 183rd Fighter Wing and the New York Air National Guard's 109th Airlift Wing. The four units replaced service members from the 130th Airlift Wing of the West Virginia Air National Guard.

The 188th CES is one component of a team of engineers from the 474th ECES, which maintains generators and electricity as well as furnishes carpentry skills and utilities maintenance. The 188th CES also helps to provide pest control services, heavy equipment operation and liquid fuel support with assistance from administrative, work control and operations teams, which labor to coordinate all of the projects.

The 474th ECES, which is also known as the Base Emergency Engineering Force (BEEF), also labors to complete projects on the naval station and JTF to help upgrade the conditions for the service members and detainees.

That recently included the installation of a new soccer facility, which resides in the recreation yard at Guantanamo's Camp 6. Members of the 188th assigned to the 474th finished that project Dec. 8. The final touches included the construction of new soccer goals.

The project was the first step of a two-week construction plan to upgrade detention facilities, a strategy that will continue until the last detainee leaves GTMO.

Navy Lt. Todd N. Taylor, Camp 6 officer-in-charge, said improvements to the detention facilities are made continuously.

"While detainees are in our custody, we strive to enhance facilities in accordance with the safe, humane, legal and transparent care and custody of detainees," Taylor said.

Taylor said detainees receive recreation daily. While many sports are offered, Taylor said the majority of the detainees prefer soccer. Taylor said the construction of the goals provides detainees with a more competitive game of soccer.

"The soccer goals are built to regulation," said Tech. Sgt. Bailey M. Coleman, a heavy equipment engineer with the 188th, attached to the 474th ECES. "The goals are sturdy and permanent now. It makes for a more realistic game for the detainees."

Until the last detainee leaves, GTMO will continue normal operations, modifying detention facilities to enhance the quality of life for detainees.

Members of the 188th CES are scheduled to return from the deployment in January 2010.

For more information on the 188th Fighter Wing visit www.188fw.ang.af.mil. For additional information about Joint Task Force Guantanamo, visit www.jtfgtmo.southcom.mil.

Guantanamo Bay holiday: Deployed 188th CES focuses on upgrades to Guantanamo facilities during holiday season

  • Published
  • By Army Spc. Tiffany Addair and Capt. Heath Allen
  • JTF Guantanamo Public Affairs and 188th Public Affairs
GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba --  The 1943 holiday hit "I'll be Home for Christmas" just won't have the same ring to it for many members of the 188th Fighter Wing this holiday season.

Approximately 50 members of the 188th's Civil Engineering Squadron are spending the holiday away from home. The 188th CES departed their home station in Fort Smith, Ark., July 24, 2009, to embark on a six-month deployment to Cuba where they joined the 474th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron at U.S. Naval Station Guantanamo Bay in support of Joint Task Force Guantanamo.

The primary objective of JTF Guantanamo's 474th ECES is to handle construction issues at Camp Justice and the Expeditionary Legal Complex in support of military commissions at the naval station.

The 188th joined with elements of the Maryland Air National Guard's 175th Air Wing, Illinois Air National Guard's 183rd Fighter Wing and the New York Air National Guard's 109th Airlift Wing. The four units replaced service members from the 130th Airlift Wing of the West Virginia Air National Guard.

The 188th CES is one component of a team of engineers from the 474th ECES, which maintains generators and electricity as well as furnishes carpentry skills and utilities maintenance. The 188th CES also helps to provide pest control services, heavy equipment operation and liquid fuel support with assistance from administrative, work control and operations teams, which labor to coordinate all of the projects.

The 474th ECES, which is also known as the Base Emergency Engineering Force (BEEF), also labors to complete projects on the naval station and JTF to help upgrade the conditions for the service members and detainees.

That recently included the installation of a new soccer facility, which resides in the recreation yard at Guantanamo's Camp 6. Members of the 188th assigned to the 474th finished that project Dec. 8. The final touches included the construction of new soccer goals.

The project was the first step of a two-week construction plan to upgrade detention facilities, a strategy that will continue until the last detainee leaves GTMO.

Navy Lt. Todd N. Taylor, Camp 6 officer-in-charge, said improvements to the detention facilities are made continuously.

"While detainees are in our custody, we strive to enhance facilities in accordance with the safe, humane, legal and transparent care and custody of detainees," Taylor said.

Taylor said detainees receive recreation daily. While many sports are offered, Taylor said the majority of the detainees prefer soccer. Taylor said the construction of the goals provides detainees with a more competitive game of soccer.

"The soccer goals are built to regulation," said Tech. Sgt. Bailey M. Coleman, a heavy equipment engineer with the 188th, attached to the 474th ECES. "The goals are sturdy and permanent now. It makes for a more realistic game for the detainees."

Until the last detainee leaves, GTMO will continue normal operations, modifying detention facilities to enhance the quality of life for detainees.

Members of the 188th CES are scheduled to return from the deployment in January 2010.

For more information on the 188th Fighter Wing visit www.188fw.ang.af.mil. For additional information about Joint Task Force Guantanamo, visit www.jtfgtmo.southcom.mil.