Jay W. Hood is a retired

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

major general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

. His final assignment was as Chief Of Staff of the

United States Central Command The United States Central Command (USCENTCOM or CENTCOM) is one of the eleven unified combatant commands of the U.S. Department of Defense. It was established in 1983, taking over the previous responsibilities of the Rapid Deployment Joint Tas ...

. His previous assignments include Commander of

First Army Division East First Army Division East is a division of the First United States Army. With its new role, the First Army developed two subordinate multi-component headquarters – one division to support the eastern United States and the other to support the ...

Fort George G. Meade Fort George G. Meade is a United States Army installation located in Maryland, that includes the Defense Information School, the Defense Media Activity, the United States military bands#Army Field Band, United States Army Field Band, and the head ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

; Commanding General of

Joint Task Force Guantanamo Joint Task Force Guantanamo (JTF-GTMO) is a U.S. military joint task force based at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Guantánamo Bay, Cuba on the southeastern end of the base. JTF-GTMO falls under US Southern Command. Since January 2002 the command has ...

(JTF-GTMO), Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; Assistant Division Commander (Forward), 24th Infantry Division and Deputy Commanding General (South), First Army,

Fort Gillem Fort Gillem was a United States Army Post located in Forest Park, Georgia, on the southeast edge of Atlanta in Clayton County. Founded in 1941, it was a satellite installation of nearby Fort McPherson. The base housed different supply and suppor ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

; Commander,

82nd Airborne Division Artillery The 82nd Airborne Division Artillery (DIVARTY) is the divisional artillery command for the 82nd Airborne Division of the United States Army, stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. It was organized in 1917, during World War I, was inactivated ...

and Commander,

3rd Battalion, 319th Field Artillery Regiment The 3rd Battalion, 319th Field Artillery Regiment ("3–319th AFAR") is the field artillery battalion that directly supports the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division. Known as the "Gun Devils", 3–319th AFAR has participated in battle ...

, 82nd Airborne,

Fort Bragg Fort Bragg is a military installation of the United States Army in North Carolina, and is one of the largest military installations in the world by population, with around 54,000 military personnel. The military reservation is located within Cum ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

; Commander, Battery D, 4th Battalion (Airborne), 325th Infantry (Battalion Combat Team), U.S. Army Southern European Task Force; and Commander, Battery A, 2nd Battalion, 321st Field Artillery Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, North Carolina. General Hood is a graduate of Pittsburg (KS) State University

Command of Joint Task Force Guantanamo

In November 2004, Hood was commander of the Joint Task Force Guantanamo, operator of the temporary detention facility at Camp X-Ray. The

International Committee of the Red Cross The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC; french: Comité international de la Croix-Rouge) is a humanitarian organization which is based in Geneva, Switzerland, and it is also a three-time Nobel Prize Laureate. State parties (signato ...

released a confidential report to the United States government saying that the American military had intentionally used psychological and sometimes physical coercion "tantamount to

torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons such as punishment, extracting a confession, interrogation for information, or intimidating third parties. Some definitions are restricted to acts c ...

" on prisoners at Guantanamo Bay. In response, Hood said, "I'm satisfied that the detainees here have not been abused, they've not been mistreated, they've not been tortured in any way." In May 2005, Hood released a report of investigation headed by him, announcing five cases in which the Koran was mishandled at the prison. Hood has come under criticism for his decision to force feed detainees with the use of a restraining chair. Hood defended the decision, saying he would not allow one of the detainees to become a martyr, thereby creating more pressure to close the camp. "Imagine, if you will, if we simply allowed them, contrary to U.S. law, to kill themselves," Hood said. "What would that mean to the rest of the Islamic world? You have Muslim men dying at Guantanamo Bay."Guantanamo Commander Prepares to Leave Post (NPR)
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References

External links

Major General Hood's army profile webpage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hood, Jay W. United States Army personnel of the Gulf War Living people Recipients of the Defense Superior Service Medal Recipients of the Legion of Merit United States Army generals Year of birth missing (living people)