Tennessee National Guard unit deploying to Guantanamo Bay

Associated Press

5 years ago

Poeple walk past a guard tower outside the fencing of Camp 5 at the US Military's Prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba on January 26, 2017. President Donald Trump has said he "absolutely" thinks torture works, but doctors, lawyers for terror suspects, and even fellow Republicans have pledged to oppose any effort to reinstate waterboarding or other banned interrogation techniques. / AFP / Thomas WATKINS (Photo credit should read THOMAS WATKINS/AFP via Getty Images)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A Tennessee National Guard unit is deploying more than 100 soldiers to the American naval base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba this winter.

The guard said the soldiers are assigned to the Dyersburg-based 168th Military Police Battalion. They have been training for a year to prepare for the yearlong deployment.

The guard said in a news release the soldiers will replace the Army Reserves’ 382nd Military Police Battalion from Westover, Massachusetts. The 168th will be supporting police and security operations.

The 168th plans to name the task force that it will lead after 1st Lt. James Gardner. He was a Dyersburg native and Medal of Honor recipient who was killed in action in 1966 in Vietnam.