Keeping a visual record

Photo By Master Sgt. Blair Heusdens | A Navy combat cameraman with Joint Task Force Guantanamo cleans his camera gear in preparation for a mission, May 13. Navy combat camera documents daily activities for historical purposes at the detention facilities in support of JTF Guantanamo. JTF Guantanamo conducts safe, humane, legal and transparent care and custody of detainees, including those convicted by military commission and those ordered released. The JTF conducts intelligence collection, analysis and dissemination for the protection of detainees and personnel working in JTF Guantanamo facilities and in support of the Global War on Terror. JTF Guantanamo provides support to the Office of Military Commissions, to law enforcement and to war crimes investigations. The JTF conducts planning for and, on order, responds to Caribbean mass migration operations.  

GUANTANAMO BAY, CUBA

05.15.2009

Story by Staff Sgt. Blair Heusdens 

Joint Task Force Guantanamo Public Affairs

GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba — All the world's eyes have been on Naval Station Guantanamo Bay since the detention facilities opened in 2002. Another set of eyes have constantly been on the facilities as well, silently documenting the daily activities in the camps to serve as a permanent record of the care and custody of those who have been detained here.

Navy combat cameramen document daily life at the detention facilities for Joint Task Force Guantanamo using still and video imagery. Made up of both active duty and Reserve component Sailors, the JTF combat camera section is responsible for the complete and objective recording of actions of the detainees and guards who oversee their custody.

"This mission has taught me that it is important to always pay attention no matter how repetitive a job can be. If we miss a shot or get complacent, it could ruin the credibility we've worked hard to earn," said one combat cameraman with the JTF.

Combat camera imagery provides commanders and decision-makers with essential battlefield information in support of strategic, operational and tactical mission objectives. Up-to-date imagery can be used for planning, intelligence and operational purposes.

"What we do helps decision makers make more informed decisions," the section's non-commissioned officer-in-charge said.

Combat camera assets often have the ability to cover an event or situation as it is happening or immediately afterward, to provide real-time imagery of fast-breaking events. Images and video can then be fed to news organizations

"Some news organizations cannot get to places as quickly as we can," the NCOIC said.

The imagery also serves an important archival and historical purpose. As the detention facilities will prepare to close, this documentation remains to serve as a historical record and archive of what happens on a daily basis. The cameramen must be as inconspicuous as possible to document events without becoming a distraction. After being a feature in the camps for so long, the cameraman's presence doesn't attract as much attention and they are allowed to document the scene as it is.

"We have to be an unbiased party, strictly there to document what happens," the combat camera NCOIC said.

Navy Combat Camera is a command that deploys around the world in support of various missions. Photographers must be trained and ready to go into different situations at a moment's notice. From humanitarian missions to combat operations, combat cameramen document military operations to support commanders in the field.

With units based in Norfolk, Va., and San Diego, Calif., Navy combat cameramen cover surface, subsurface, air and ground operations of armed forces engaged in combat, combat support operations, humanitarian efforts, scientific research and other peacetime activities. The cameramen are trained to provide still photography and video documentation which can be quickly uploaded in the field to commanders around the world.

In addition to photographic training, combat cameramen also receive additional combat, weapons and aircraft safety training, as well as other specialized training to prepare them for deployment and insertion into hostile and remote areas, often embedding on the front lines with combat units.

"We train for whatever force we deploy with," said the section's NCOIC.

This additional training helps the cameramen to seamlessly integrate with whatever forces they deploy with and not become a liability.

"The training we receive allows me to go through my job with confidence," a combat cameraman said. "I know that I am properly trained so I can eventually get home to my family once my mission is done."

For more information about Joint Task Force Guantanamo, visit the Web site www.jtfgtmo.southcom.mil.

• Date Taken: 05.15.2009
• Date Posted: 05.19.2009 15:05
• Story ID: 33811
• Location: GUANTANAMO BAY, CU