Vicksburg National Guardsmen Sgt. Nicholas Woods, left, and Spc. Christopher Woods are on leave in Vicksburg from their deployment at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba where they serve with the 114th Military Police Company. (The Vicksburg Post/Melanie Duncan)

[10/7/02]Maintaining a businesslike manner while guarding detained terrorist suspects can be challenging, said two Vicksburg National Guardsmen on leave from their deployment at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba.

Sgt. Nicholas Woods and Spc. Christopher Woods, 24-year-old twins and Vicksburg High School graduates, were home last week for a break from their deployment with the Mississippi Army National Guard’s 114th Military Police Company, which has a detachment in Vicksburg.

Since June, the two college students have been stationed at the U.S. Naval base on the southeastern tip of Cuba, about 400 miles from Miami. Detained there since January are suspected members of the al-Qaida network and Afghanistan’s fallen Taliban regime.

Nicholas Woods said that while most of the detainees are relatively cooperative, some have resisted by cursing, spitting on and throwing water on their guards.

“There are certain times when you want to snap, but you can’t do that,” Woods said. “You’ve got to remember they’re human, hold your composure, keep your military bearing and drive on.”

The Woodses are two of 13 guardsmen who are either from or live in Vicksburg and are in the 114th, said National Guard Capt. Scott Lippiatt. The others are Sgt. Jerome Walker, Sgt. Michael Matthews, Sgt. Clyde Keathley, Sgt. Glenn Cotton, Spc. Edward Herring, Spc. Brian Maxwell, Spc. William Brent, Spc. Amelia Bailey, Spc. Willie Jones, Spc. Junta Bass and Spc. Comma Branch, he said.

The deployment began in January at Fort Campbell, Ky. The unit was called there to replace similar active-duty units that were being moved to Afghanistan and Turkey, Nicholas Woods said. After about six months in Kentucky, they were moved to Cuba, he said.

There are about 600 detainees, from 43 countries at Guantanamo Bay’s Camp Delta. Space for more is reportedly being added, with construction of 204 more cells expected to be complete this month en route to a capacity of 2,000.

The detainees have been denied prisoner-of-war status on grounds that they are enemy combatants. Their incarceration without charge or access to legal counsel could last until the end of the war on terrorism.

The detainees live in 8-by-7-foot cells and are given medical attention and “comfort items,” including copies of the Quran and prayer caps, sandals, foam mattresses, toothbrushes and soap, according to information from the U.S. Navy.

“They’re treated as humans,” Woods said. “They’re treated very well.”

Still, U.S. military officials have said four detainees tried to kill themselves in the prison in July and August, and more suicide attempts have occurred since, The Associated Press has reported.

Military police guards receive extensive training in areas such as non-lethal weapons, extraction of inmates from cells, advanced unarmed self-defense, human rights, prison guard operations and riot control. The Woodses said they have felt well-prepared by their training, much of which is ongoing.

MPs have one of the hardest jobs in the military,” he said, adding that they are trained in infantry movements and tactics as well as police work. “We’re needed more than anything.”

The Woodses said they plan to return to their respective colleges Christopher to the University of Southern Mississippi and Nicholas to Hinds after they return from their deployment, perhaps as early as Thanksgiving.

The MPs do have some time off, and the Guantanamo Bay area, which Nicholas described as “like Arizona,” does provide some recreational opportunities. They include boating and an outdoor movie theater that shows most of the newest releases, the Woodses said.

“It’s hot,” Christopher Woods said. “There’s some grass, but it’s mainly rocks. There are some good-sized hills.”

“It’s not the easiest being away, but it’s not terrible,” Nicholas said.

He said the most important quality to have as a detainee guard is professionalism. Most prisoners respect the guards who, “go in with a professional attitude and treat them with as much respect as you would hope to be treated,” he said.