Carolyn A. Wood

Captain Carolyn A. Wood, a member of the 519th Military Intelligence Battalion from Fort Bragg, N.C., served as officer in charge at Abu Ghraib "prison's questioning area, [which] was formally called the Joint Interrogation and Debriefing Center." Wood reported to Lt. Col. Steve L. Jordan, an "Army reservist who arrived at the prison" to take charge of the unit which was established September 20, 2003, according to a "chronology provided by Senate officials." 

"Captain Wood had served 10 years in enlisted ranks as an interrogator, and her unit specializes in 'tactical exploitation' of intelligence, including interrogation of prisoners, Army officials said." 

Members of the 519th, including Captain Wood, which "had served as interrogators in Afghanistan, where the American military runs detention centers at Bagram Air Base and at a site in Kandahar, in southern Afghanistan." The 519th was "among several units that brought to Iraq 'their own policies that had been used in other theaters,' Col. Marc Warren, the top lawyer at the Army's headquarters in Iraq, said at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing" May 19, 2004. 

However, it "remained unclear on [May 20, 2004] exactly when and where Captain Wood and her unit served" in Afghanistan. In August 2003, Wood is reported to have "posted her own list of 'interrogation rules of engagement,' which were inconsistent with those later issued for Iraq by the top American commander, Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez, according to Congressional officials." According to "military officials, ... American forces use harsher tactics [in Afghanistan] for interrogations than in Iraq, where it has insisted that the Geneva Conventions apply to all prisoners in American custody." 

"Maj. Rich Patterson, the spokesman, also said that Captain Wood was no longer assigned to the 519th Battalion. An official at the Command and General Staff College, at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., said she had graduated from an advanced officer's course there earlier this week." Patterson did confirm "that Captain Wood and her unit had been assigned to the interrogation center at Abu Ghraib last year." 

"No one has made public accusations of wrongdoing against Captain Wood or any members of her unit. But she and several other of its officers are named in military court documents as being among witnesses being sought by a lawyer defending a military police officer charged in connection with the abuse." 

Investigators "are examining ... how the rules that Captain Wood posted at Abu Ghraib differed from the [still classified] directives issued by General Sanchez, including unsigned memorandums on Sept. 10 and Sept. 28, and signed directives on Sept. 14 and Oct. 12, each of which spelled out different rules." 

"In a report by Maj. Gen. Antonio M. Taguba, Colonel Jordan, Col. Thomas M. Pappas and two civilian contractors were identified as having been 'directly or indirectly responsible' for the abuses. ... Captain Wood's unit and Colonel Jordan both reported to the 205th Military Intelligence Brigade under Colonel Pappas, who moved his headquarters to Abu Ghraib in September and was the top Army officer at the prison." 

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SourceWatch Resources

 * Abu Ghraib (Additional SourceWatch Resources)
 * Abu Ghraib (External Links)
 * Abu Ghraib: Accountability
 * Abu Ghraib: Charges Against Military Personnel
 * Abu Ghraib: Congressional Investigation
 * Abu Ghraib: Interrogation Methods and Legal Issues
 * Abu Ghraib: Photographic Evidence of Brutality
 * Afghanistan detainee abuse scandal
 * Iraqi detainee abuse scandal