507th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
1/22/2013 - TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- A 507th Air Refueling Wing staff judge advocate was awarded the fourth highest combat decoration, the Bronze Star for leading detainee operations in Afghanistan for 12 months.
Maj. Jack Spencer served as the Chief of Detainee Operations to the Combined Joint Interagency Task Force, Kabul, Afghanistan, from September 2011 to October 2012.
As the Chief of Detainee Operations, Spencer and his team were responsible for providing the commanding general advice on more than 2,100 detainee transfer request, custody transfer request and high value detainee designations.
"High value detainees are not the errand boys or Afghans who are forced by the extremist to dig a hole for an IED. They are truly bad guys who will stop at nothing to ensure insecurity in Afghanistan," said Spencer.
"A lot of what we did was sort through thousands of pages of evidence and intelligence to provide legal recommendations to the commanding general on whether a detainee met the criteria for detention," he added. "We didn't take this job lightly. If we made the wrong assessment and a bad guy got back to the battlefield it could quite possibly get someone killed."
In addition to providing timely and decisive legal advice to over 125 commanders, law enforcement personnel and capturing units throughout Afghanistan, Spencer also participated in nine field detention site inspections and six mobile training teams in some of the most dangerous areas of Afghanistan.
The training focused on international standards of humane treatment, the Law of Armed Conflict and the rules of engagement.
"We had the responsibility to provide training to the guards at these facilities," said Spencer. "In that environment even an honest mistake can become an international incident."
"Our goal was to enhance the credibility and transparency of United States detainee operations in Afghanistan and at the end of the day, we were successful," he said.
The citation, signed by Army Lt. Gen. Keith M. Huber, commander Combined Joint Interagency Task Force, praises Spencer's legal recommendations for "contributing to the safety of Afghan citizens and United States service members."
While Spencer says he is grateful to receive such an honor, he feels the Bronze Star represents those he had the privilege to work alongside.
"People either thrive or wilt under those types of stressful conditions. Our team thrived," said Spencer.
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