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New York Reservists guard Iraqi prisoners

UMM QASR, Iraq (Army News Service, April 18, 2003) -- Only at a prisoner-of-war camp run by Americans would the soldiers in charge have to turn potential prisoners away.

Army Reservists from Uniondale, N.Y., have seen Iraqi civilians - non-combatants -- pretend to be soldiers to get themselves detained.

"They know how well the people we hold here are treated -- particularly compared to how most of them live on the outside," said Col. Alan Ecke, the deputy commander of the U.S. Army Reserve's 800th Military Police Brigade.

Ecke is the camp commandant -- the "mayor" -- of Camp Bucca. The camp is the coalition's primary enemy prisoner of war internment facility located near the port city of Umm Qasr in southern Iraq. It is where all EPWs captured in Operation Iraqi Freedom are held.

The facility is named in honor of Ron Bucca, a former member of the 800th MP Bde. and New York City fire marshal who perished in the Sept. 11th attacks on the World Trade Center.

It also held Iraqi EPWs during the first Gulf War.

"Some of the soldiers we're holding here, we held in our Saudi Arabia facility the last time around. Some of them have heard about it from family members and relatives," Ecke said.

"We provide what's required by international treaty - humane treatment, medical care, two hot meals a day, water to wash with and tents to sleep in. We have Iraqi chefs making them culturally correct food. We respect their religious needs, and treat them with dignity. We play by the rules, and that's not something they're used to in this country," Ecke noted.

For the about 6,000 EPWs currently detained at the facility - and the new EPWs arriving every day in busloads from the combat zones -- life is only going to get better. In order to accommodate the burgeoning EPW population, the 800th recently assumed control of a temporary holding facility run by British forces, and accelerated construction of a nearby semi-permanent facility; complete with showers, electricity, even indoor plumbing.

"We started with nothing. This was a piece of barren desert. Even now it's a small town. And soon it'll be more like a city," Ecke said, gesturing around at the bustling community of tents, vehicles, dusty roads and mazes of concertina wire surrounding him.

"You have all the issues any town has -- people get sick, they get hurt, they need food and water and shelter, and you have to deal with your constituents. I meet often with a representative from each of the EPW compounds -- sit down with them, figure out what their gripes are, try to get them solved," he said.

The mayor doesn't do it without help. The 800th Brigade is a "command and control" operation -- the top of a wide umbrella of military units from across the operational theater that work together to create an effective, efficient EPW management program. Units involved in the EPW control and containment process include:

The 223rd MP Company, Army National Guard, Lexington, Ky., is responsible for transporting EPWs from collection centers to Camp Bucca.

The 724th MP Battalion, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., is responsible for confinement and control.

The 822nd MP Company, Arlington Heights, Ill., is responsible for perimeter security, gate control and community liaison between the camp and the local Iraqi community

The 320th MP Company, Ashelee, Pa., is responsible for in-processing and medical care of arriving prisoners.

Other support units include Army engineers who do the heavy construction, joint psychological operations units that accustom the prisoners to their temporary safe haven, and joint civil affairs units that will handle EPW repatriation after the war is over.

International partners include British forces, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and a Spanish Marine Corps medical unit, which will eventually take over EPW medical facilities at the camp.

With all the attention paid to the care of the EPWs, the 800th's top enlisted man, 1st Sgt. Ambrose Michelino, is there to make sure that the 1,400 soldiers serving at the camp are also cared for. "I call it the 'us and them' theory. We're the ones that care for them. But if we don't take care of us, we can't take care of them," he said.

While security at the camp is tight, for these soldiers, the battles have ended. The Iraq prisoners and their minders are no longer at war with each other.

"I tell my soldiers to keep their perspective. Many of these people are as happy to be rid of Saddam Hussein as we are. They surrendered as soon as they had the chance. Even the ones who fought for the regime -- they're another country's patriots. They deserve to be treated with the dignity of a soldier, the same way we'd like to be treated if we were captured.

"None of us know exactly how long we're going to be here. When they go back home, we'll go back home. Until then, all we can do is try to make this place the best it can be. We're trying to set an example for the world," he said.

(Editor's note: Frank N. Pellegrini is a staff writer for the U.S. Army Reserve Public Affairs Office.)