something that is radioactive, something that has strategic impact in the world. We don't have those procedures. They've never been designed. We're functioning with peacetime constraints, with legal requirements, in a wartime situation, in the information age where people are running around with digital cameras and taking these unbelievable photographs, and then passing them off, against the law, to the media, to our surprise, when they had not even arrived in the Pentagon. There isn't a person at this table, except General Smith, who had even seen them. Chairman WARNER. You're free to amplify that for the record, if you wish, Mr. Secretary. Senator Akaka. Senator AKAKA. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Secretary Rumsfeld, according to General Taguba's report, civilian contractors were found wandering around Abu Ghraib unsupervised and with free access to the detainee areas. I have two questions on that. What are the roles of the private contractors at this and other detention facilities in Iraq and Afghanistan? Who monitors and supervises these contracted employees? Secretary RUMSFELD. The answer is that the civilian contractors, as I indicated, numbered something like 37 in this particular facility. They tend to be interrogators and linguists. They're responsible to MI personnel who hire them and have the responsibility for supervising them. Mr. BROWNLEE. Sir, if I might? Senator AKAKA. Secretary Brownlee. Mr. BROWNLEE. In the theater, we have employed civilian contract interrogators and linguists. CENTCOM has done this. These people have no supervisory responsibilities at all. They work under the supervision of officers or noncommissioned officers (NCOs) in charge of whatever team or unit they are on. They, most of them, are retired military, and they are usually of the skill that they retired in, and that's what they're employed for. They assist in these processes, but they are not in a supervisory role. In fact, they would be forbidden from doing that, because it would be inherently governmental. General SMITH. Sir, I might add to that. In this particular case, there is a “tiger team" that interrogates and goes through that process. One is an interpreter, normally; one is an analyst; and one is an interrogator. Where we have shortages in the military of interrogators and translators, we go to contractors to do that. I gave the wrong numbers. The number of contractors we have with CACI for interrogators is 27. Then we have hundreds of translators that are under contract throughout the country, under Titan Corporation. Senator AKAKA. Secretary Rumsfeld, the alleged abuse at this detention facility has been characterized as sadistic, blatant, wanton, and criminal abuse. So far, we have discussed allegations against military members. Are there allegations of abuse against contractors who are working with the military members? If so, are any of these allegations being investigated? Secretary RUMSFELD. My recollection is-and I think it's okay to say this that the investigations are ongoing, and that time will Go ahead, General. [Clarifying information from the DOD follows:] David Passaro, a CIA contractor, was indicted Thursday, June 17, 2004, in connection with the beating death of a prisoner in Afghanistan. Passaro is the first civilian to face criminal charges related to U.S. treatment of prisoners in Afghanistan and Iraq. Information on two other CACI contractors (Steve Stepanowicz and John Israel) has been forwarded to the U.S. Attorney General's Office by the U.S. Army CID to determine whether evidence supports criminal charges against these two contractors. An ongoing investigation is reviewing the MI operations and includes a review of the actions of civilian contractors involved in interrogation activities. General SMITH. Yes, sir. There are two contractors that are being investigated under the investigation for the MI brigade, and that is from the recommendation of the Taguba Report. Senator AKAKA. Mr. Chairman, I want to say that I recently traveled to Iraq and Afghanistan, and I was so impressed with the professionalism of the men and women serving in our military who I had the opportunity to meet. I want to say that I am really proud of what they are doing there. General Myers, General Taguba's AR 15-6 Report finds a general lack of knowledge, implementation, and emphasis of basic legal, regulatory, doctrinal, and command requirements within the 800th MP brigade and its subordinate units. Understanding that there is an issue with authority between the MP and MI units at Abu Ghraib, how is it that an entire brigade could be deployed to Iraq and not train for their mission? Chairman WARNER. Senator, I'll have to ask that General Myers provide his response for the record. [The information referred to follows:] Enclosure 1 AFKA-OP 6 May 2004 INFORMATION PAPER Subject: Mobilization and training outline for Detachment 3, Detachment 4, Detachment 6, Detachment 7, and Detachment 8 of the 800th Military Police Brigade 1. The 800th Military Police Brigade (EPW) deployed five detachments in support of operation Enduring Freedom to perform the duties of command and control for internment and resettlement military police assets. Detachment (DET) 3, home stationed at Hempstead, New York, mobilized eleven (11) soldiers in serial 174 for duty in Arifjan, Kuwait. The element reported to their mobilization station at Fort Dix, New Jersey on 05 January 2003. Detachment (DET) 4, home stationed at Hempstead, New York, mobilized three (3) soldiers in serial 177B1 to support Operation Enduring Freedom with duty in Arifjan, Kuwait. The unit reported to their mobilization station at Fort Dix, New Jersey on 19 January 2003. Detachment (DET) 6, home stationed at Uniondale, New York, mobilized forty three (43) soldiers in serial 177B1 to support Operation Enduring Freedom with duty in Arifjan, Kuwait. The unit reported to their mobilization station at Fort Dix, New Jersey on 19 January 2003. Detachment (DET) 7, home stationed at Hempstead, New York, mobilized twenty-one (21) soldiers in serial 187B to support Operation Enduring Freedom with duty in Tallil, Iraq. DET 7 reported to their mobilization station at Fort Dix, New Jersey on 21 January 2003. Detachment (DET) 8 consisted of one commander, home stationed at Hempstead, New York, that was mobilized on 21 May 2003 and processed through the CONUS Replacement Center at Fort Benning, Georgia. Detachment 8 was the Brigade Commander. The 800 Military Police Brigade is a peacetime subordinate unit of the 77th Regional Readiness Command (U.S. Army Reserve). 2. Mobilization Timeline: a. 800th MP BDE (EPW) DET 3 (1) Alert Date: 14 December 2002 (2) Mobilization Date: 02 January 2003 (3) Mobilization Station Arrival Date: 05 January 2003 (4) Validation Date: 15 January 2003. Validated by the Fort Dix mobilization station (5) Deployment Date: 26 January 2003 (6) Duty Date: 27 January 2003 b. 800th MP BDE (EPW) DET 4 (1) Alert Date: 01 November 2001 (2) Mobilization Date: 16 January 2003 (3) Mobilization Station Arrival Date: 19 January 2003 (4) Validation Date: 27 January 2003. Validated by the Fort Dix mobilization station commander (5) Deployment Date: 20 February 2003 (6) Duty Date: 21 February 2003 c. 800th MP BDE (EPW) DET 6 (1) Alert Date: 01 November 2001 (2) Mobilization Date: 16 January 2003 (3) Mobilization Station Arrival Date: 19 January 2003 (4) Validation Date: 11 February 2003. Validated by the Fort Dix mobilization station commander at T-1. (5) Deployment Date: 20 February 2003 (6) Duty Date: 21 February 2003 d. 800th MP BDE (EPW) DET 7 (1) Alert Date: 01 November 2001 (2) Mobilization Date: 10 February 2003 (3) Mobilization Station Arrival Date: 21 February 2003 (4) Validation Date: 04 June 2003. Validated by Fort Dix mobilization station (5) Deployment Date: 08 June 2003 (6) Duty Date: 09 June 2003 e. 800th MP BDE (EPW) DET 8 (1) Alert Date: (2) Mobilization Date: 21 May 2003 (3) Mobilization Station Arrival Date: 08 June 2003 (4) Validation Date: 13 June 2003. Validated by the Fort Benning mobilization station commander. No "T" rating since individual mobilized at CRC. (5) Deployment Date: 18 June 2003 (6) Duty Date: 19 June 2003 3. The unit manning requirements: a. 800th MP BDE (EPW) DET 3-The unit was authorized 12 personnel. It was assigned 11 b. 800th MP BDE (EPW) DET 4-The unit was authorized 3 personnel. It was assigned 3 personnel. The detachment deployed 3 soldiers. c. 800th MP BDE (EPW) DET 6--The unit was authorized 43 personnel. It was assigned 43 personnel. Three (3) were medical holds, pending medical review, and one soldier was non- deployable. The detachment deployed 39 soldiers. d. 800th MP BDE (EPW) DET 7-The unit was authorized 24 personnel. It was assigned 25 personnel. Three (3) were medical holds, pending medical review, one soldier was non-deployable. The detachment deployed 21 soldiers. e. 800th MP BDE (EPW) DET 8-The unit was authorized 1 Cdr. It was assigned and deployed 1 soldier. 4. Mobilization station activities at Fort Dix and Fort Benning: a. Units mobilized at Fort Dix completed Soldier Readiness Processing (SRP), which included Medical, Dental, Personnel, Finance, Legal, and Security. All soldiers were issued the required organizational clothing and individual equipment (OCIE) and Joint Service Lightweight Integrated Suit Technology (JSLIST). b. As required by Forces Command, post mobilization training consisted of: (1) Individual Readiness Training (Cultural and Religious Awareness, Rules of Engagement (ROE) and Rule for Use of Force (RUF), SAEDA, Media Awareness, and Anti terrorism (AT) Level 1, Reaction to Indirect fire, Mine awareness, and Risk Management / Assessment). (2) NBC Tasks (3) First Aid Tasks / Combat Life Saver (4) Theater Specific.Individual Requirements Training (TSIRT) Briefings (5) Weapons Qualification c. Mobilization of unit in small detachments did not support collective training of 800th Military Police Brigade Headquarters. d. The Commander processing through the CONUS replacement center at the Fort Benning was trained in the following tasks: Rules of Engagement, Protective Mask Fitting, Biological/Chemical Warfare Prevention & Protective Measures, Country Overview/Anti-Terrorism, Medical Threat Brief, Preliminary Marksmanship Instruction, Individual Weapons Qualification, Improvised Explosive Devices, Unexploded Ordnance, and Subversion and Espionage Directed against the Army (SAEDA)/Operations Security. POC: LTC Jimmie Ring, 464-6303, ringis@forscom.army.mil. |