When word came of the abuse at  Abu Ghraib prison, government credibility was lost.

 

I have never worked in a military prison. I can only imagine what proper procedures may require.

 

I served in various Marine units, stateside, peacetime & 2.5 years overseas ‘79-’99.

 

I was just the average guy in the average unit. Not guarding nuclear weapons, B-52 bombers, submarines, prisoners, etc. I never served in a war.

 

 

Something like a Staff Sergeant or Gunnery Sergeant (E6/7) or maybe a Lieutenant or Warrant Officer would be in charge of the whole battalion area after hours. These Marines would go check to make sure the motor transport lot was secure, no-one was stealing diesel fuel, etc. They would check the personnel office, the chow hall, armory, work spaces, etc. They would check the barracks too, walking up the back way through the parking lot to see if anyone was drinking beer, etc. If they found something amiss, they would light up the guy posted at the barracks as to why he was not taking charge of the area.

 

There would be something like a Captain on watch at the higher headquarters and he would make the rounds too, so you would have several layers of supervision and accountability in place at all times.

 

A Marine on duty has no friends.

 

Anything goes wrong while you are standing “duty” you will be held accountable- mess it up and you will pay.

 

When we went overseas we could not go out in town to drink beer without a “liberty brief” where you were told about local customs, courtesies, cultural sensitivities, how to get around without getting into trouble, etc.

 

This experience would be similar for hundreds of thousands of others who have served in uniform over the years.

 

 

I am thinking a military prison would have interior cameras-something like casino security and people of various ranks patrolling around to keep an aye on things in the wee hours.

 

The war in Iraq has involved operations in a region with huge cultural and religious sensitivities. How could anyone working in a military prison not be completely clear on the proper way to conduct business Re: military prisoners?

 

We have security cameras in our mini marts and casinos, but none in place to prevent international incidents inside our military prisons, or to counter the idea that people at the top had no clue what was going on. Top level people retire, troops go to jail.