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NEWS | Oct. 18, 2007

474th Engineers Construct New Commissions Complex

By Sgt. Michael Owens JTF-Guantanamo Public Affairs

GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba - About 100 Air National Guard members, representing six states, will construct the Expeditionary Legal Complex for military commissions on the unused McCalla airfield here at Guantanamo Bay.

The 474th Expeditionary Civil Engineering Squadron (ECES) is tackling the $10 million project, which will be completed by next spring.

The complex will be about 6,000 square feet, and the interior will include a large courtroom with small offices for administrative purposes. Surrounding the complex will be mobile offices for defense and prosecution attorneys and the Office of Military Commissions (OMC).

The 474th has already built a tent city called "Camp Justice," where they are presently living. Once commissions begin, "Camp Justice" will house all the legal personnel associated with the commissions process as well as the Air National Guard unit tasked with Camp Justice maintenance.

Air Force Lt. Col. James Starnes, commander of the 474th ECES, is satisfied with the progress of their mission. "We are working on schedule, and I am confident that we will be finished by mid-March "maybe earlier."

Starnes, who has been here since the unit's advance party arrived in mid-July, said his Airmen are working hard to effectively complete the project on time.

The advance party set up housing and other temporary structures before the rest of the unit arrived in August. Once in place, the 474th began prepping the abandoned airfield for construction. On Sept. 11th, the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, they began the "ground breaking" to prepare for the foundations.

"We didn't realize it [the timing] until the day was half-way over," Starnes said.

Once the foundation is laid, U.S. Southern Command will coordinate the barge transport of the prefabricated sections of the commissions structure. "Once the pieces of the building start to arrive, we just put it together piece by piece," said Starnes.

Air Force Maj. Chad Warren, the 474th operations officer, explained the layout of the new commissions building using a detailed drawing that showed a basic courtroom, detainee holding area, judges' chambers and a sound proof press box so that media can witness the trial without hearing anything other than the amplified proceedings.

Warren's drawing also showed where the office trailers and Camp Justice will be placed in relation to the commissions building. Once everything is put in place, the whole complex will be fenced in and ready for resumption of the commissions process.

 

 

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