Biedenbender, Doug, SSG

Camp Bucca, the coalition's primary facility for enemy prisoners of war is near Umm Qasr in southern Iraq. The camp was named after Ron Bucca, a New York fire marshal and Army Reservist who died in the Sept. 11, 2001 attack on the World Trade Center. Envisioned as a temporary place to hold Iraqi prisoners of war, the camp was emptied and closed by December 2003. However, Iraq's postwar insurgency created the need for a place to house thousands of suspected insurgents, and commanders turned to Camp Bucca to supplement the facilities at Abu Ghraib prison outside Baghdad.

It was at one point operated by the 800th Military Police Brigade. As of January 2005, the facility was being operated by the 18th Military Police Brigade and Task Force 134.

As of late-January 2005, the facility had a holding capacity of 6,000 prisonners but only held 5,000. These were being supervised by 1,200 Army MPs and Air Force Aimen.

At Camp Bucca's in-processing stations, soldiers fill out cards for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) that include the prisoner's name, properties, hometown, and family members. These cards then get sent back to the prisoner's home. The process can take up to a month; so many family members come to the camp instead, to find out for themselves.

The first thing the MPs had to do was find a proper spot to set up an EPW camp. To put up a camp, Army planners first scout out a site isolated enough to be able to protect the prisoners and their guards from attack. Free Iraq Forces are also used to help locate a safe place. The FIF is a group of native Iraqis who have joined to help the American and British forces in freeing the Iraqi people. The local towns are checked for nearby places to buy needed products, warehouses for storing supplies, and the potential for local doctors, caterers, and contractors -- anything that would enhance the operations. In Umm Qasr, Maddocks used interpreters who spoke to local businessmen and helped find the things they needed to help build and maintain Camp Bucca.

The 800th MP Brigade was a "command and control" operation - the top of a wide umbrella of military units from across the operational theater that work together to create an effective, efficient EPW management program. As of late April 2003 units involved in the EPW control and containment process included: The 223rd MP Co., Army National Guard, Lexington, Ky., which was responsible for transporting EPWs from collection centers to Camp Bucca;· The 724th MP Battalion, USAR, of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., confinement and control; The 822nd MP Company, Arlington Heights, Ill., perimeter security, gate control and community liaison between the camp and the local Iraqi community;· The 320th MP Company, Ashelee, PA, in-processing and medical care of arriving prisoners. Other support units included Army engineers who did the heavy construction, joint psychological operations units that accustom the prisoners to their temporary safe haven, and joint civil affairs units that were to handle EPW repatriation after the war was over. International partners included British forces, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and a Spanish Marine Corps medical unit which was at one point expected to eventually take over EPW medical facilities at the camp.

The 267 MP Company had alot of different missions. Like the 223rd and the 822nd, the 267th was attached to the 724 MP BN. The Company had Area Security (not the 822nd) when the camp was first handed over from British to American MPs, border convoy security, Prison Guard, supply convoys to the port, and prisoner transport to Abu Ghraib. There many more missions that the company had but those were the ones from APR03-JAN04.

Initially members of the 800th MP Brigade believed they would be allowed to go home when all the detainees were released from the Camp Bucca Theater Internment Facility following the cessation of major ground combat on 1 May 2003. At one point, approximately 7,000 to 8,000 detainees were held at Camp Bucca. Through Article-5 Tribunals and a screening process, several thousand detainees were released. Many in the command believed they would go home when the detainees were released.

As of January 2004 the centerpiece of the 530th Military Police Battalion headquarters' living area at Camp Bucca was a little reminiscent of the old TV show "Petticoat Junction." On a raised wooden gazebo, soldiers built a deep tub that now serves as the swimming hole for the headquarters staff. The only thing missing are the pretty girls in petticoats. "We just throw some bleach in it every once in a while to keep it clean," said Staff Sgt. Vern Schulte, an MP in the battalion at Bucca, where hundreds of enemy prisoners-of-war are held. The pool, which looks more like a California-style hot tub, is a welcome relief. "This place was just a big square of sand when we walked into it," Schulte said. "Now we've got everything just like it should be."

A 07 January 2004 incident involved the escape of detainee #115032 from Camp Bucca (310th MP Battalion). A detainee allegedly escaped between the hours of 0445 and 0640 from Compound 12, of Camp Bucca. Investigation by CPT Kaires (310th MP Battalion S-3) and CPT Holsombeck (724th MP Battalion S-3) concluded that the detainee escaped through an undetected weakness in the wire. Contributing factors were inexperienced guards, lapses in accountability, complacency, lack of leadership presence, poor visibility, and lack of clear and concise communication between the guards and the leadership.

A 12 January 04 incident involved the escape of Detainees #115314 and #109950 as well as the escape and recapture of 5 nknown detainees at the Camp Bucca Detention Facility (310th MP Battalion). Several detainees allegedly escaped around 0300 from Compound 12, of Camp Bucca.

A 26 January 04 incident involved the escape of detainees #s 115236, 116272, and 151933 from Camp Bucca (310th MP Battalion). Several Detainees allegedly escaped between the hours of 0440 and 0700 during a period of intense fog. Investigation by CPT Kaires (310th MP Battalion S-3) concluded that the detainees crawled under a fence when visibility was only 10-15 meters due to fog. Contributing factors were the limited visibility (darkness under foggy conditions), lack of proper accountability reporting, inadequate number of guards, commencement of detainee feeding during low visibility operations, and poorly rested MPs.

In January 2005, approximately 400 Air Force Security Forces assigned to the 732nd Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron began helping operate Camp Bucca. According to a Jan. 30, 2005 report by the San Antonio Express-News, the planning for the posting of the airmen at Camp Bucca had begun in early 2004, and was being driven by the high-demand for Military Police troops. The airmen were to be stationed at the facility for six months before being replaced by another Security Forces contingent.

In January 2005 there was a large riot at Camp Bucca that left four Iraqi prisoners dead and six others wounded. The riot took place during a search for contraband in one of the camp’s 10 compounds. The riot quickly spread to three additional compounds, with detainees throwing rocks and fashioning weapons from materials inside their living areas. Officials said guards attempted to calm the increasingly volatile situation using verbal warnings and, when that failed, by use of nonlethal force. After about 45 minutes of escalating danger, officials said, lethal force was used to quell the violence.

In March 2005 a fuel truck accidentally drove over and collapsed the roof of an escape tunnel that was being dug out by several detainees living in Camp Bucca. The four-foot underground tunnel was an estimated 300-feet long and wide enough for a man to crawl through. Authorities claim no one escaped through the tunnel and the ringleaders were placed in isolation at the camp.

In May 2005, to cope with the continuing influx of detainees, the Pentagon announced that Bucca, which has eight compounds, would construct two more compounds. These new compounds would add the ability to hold an additional 1,400 prisoners. The expansion was estimated to cost $12 million.

As of March 2006, Bucca was Iraq's largest detainee facility with over 8,500 detainees.