Michael Bumgarner

Michael Bumgarner helps cut a cake.

Colonel Michael Bumgarner (born 1959) is an officer in the United States Armed Services.^[1][2] In 2005 and 2006, he was the commander of the Joint Detention Group, the guard force component of Joint Task Force Guantanamo.^[3][4]

Detainees described him as the chief American negotiator during the hunger strike that ended July 28, 2005.^[5] They described Colonel Bumgarner making promises that the Americans failed to fulfill.

In reaction to the three June 10, 2006 suicides Bumgarner said:^[6] "The trust level is gone. They have shown time and time again that we can't trust them any farther than we can throw them. There is not a trustworthy son of a ... in the entire bunch."

An epilogue to the June 18, 2006 Charlotte article says that when the author made a final courtesy call to Bumgarner, on June 13, 2006, three days after the bases first acknowledged suicides, Bumgarner's deputy answered his phone because she had been appointed acting commander of the guard force, 17 days before the end of his appointment.

COL Bumgarner has recently been the director of the Maneuver Support Center, Capabilities Development and Integration Directorate, Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. He was responsible for developing new concepts for the Army to help protect the force. In that role, he was a popular enthusiastic leader, who toiled endlessly to bring better capabilities and heart to the troops.

COL Bumgarner's final position from 2008-2010 was as the Professor of Military Science for Virginia Tech's Army ROTC program.

Disputes assertions he participated in a cover-up of murder at Guantanamo

On January 18, 2010, Bumgarner disputed claims he participated in a cover-up of three murder at Guantanamo, of captives who had at the time been reported to have committed suicide.^[1][2] According to the Associated Press an email from Bumgarner stated: "this blatant misrepresentation of the truth infuriates me." According to the Associated Press Bumgarner asserted he wanted to refute the story in more detail, but would have to get clearance from his superiors first.

Journalist and attorney Scott Horton published an article in Harper's magazine asserting that the three captives did not hang themselves in their cells, but rather died during their interrogations at "Camp No".^[1][7] According to Horton, during interviews with former guards, he had learned that Bumgarner had briefed guards at 7:00am, hours after the men's death, telling the guards that the press would be fed a false story that the men hung themselves, and that the guards were expected to back this story up.

See also

• Shaker Aamer

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Ian Cobain (2010-01-18). "US magazine claims Guantánamo inmates were killed during questioning". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2010-01-18. http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guardian.co.uk%2Fworld%2F2010%2Fjan%2F18%2Fguantanamo-investigation-harpers-interrogation&date=2010-01-18. 
2. ^ ^{a b} "Questions over deaths of 3 Guantanamo detainees raised by magazine article". Canadian Press. 2010-01-18. Archived from the original on 2010-01-18. http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Fhostednews%2Fcanadianpress%2Farticle%2FALeqM5h97BGvSdx97hHzNDkUiDzI8JsB7A&date=2010-01-18. 
3. ^ Tim Golden (2006-09-17). "The Battle for Guantánamo". New York Times. Archived from the original on 2010-01-19. http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2006%2F09%2F17%2Fmagazine%2F17guantanamo.html%3F_r%3D1%26pagewanted%3Dprint&date=2010-01-19. 
4. ^ CNN tours Gitmo prison camp: Military rules prevent crew from getting full picture, CNN, July 6, 2005
5. ^ Guantánamo strike has directors worried, New York Times, September 18, 2005
6. ^ Guards tighten security to prevent more deaths: Human rights groups, defense lawyers call for investigation of 3 men's suicides in military prison. Charlotte Observer, June 13, 2006
7. ^ Scott Horton (2010-01-18). "The Guantánamo “Suicides”: A Camp Delta sergeant blows the whistle". Harper's magazine. Archived from the original on 2010-01-18. http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.harpers.org%2Farchive%2F2010%2F01%2Fhbc-90006368&date=2010-01-18. 

External links

• Tim Golden (2006-09-17). "The Battle for Guantánamo". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2010-02-05. http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2006%2F09%2F17%2Fmagazine%2F17guantanamo.html%3Fpagewanted%3Dprint&date=2010-02-05. 

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Name	Bumgarner, Michael
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Date of birth	1959
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