Jay W. Hood is a retired

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

major general. 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 United States Department of Defense, U.S. Department of Defense. It was established in 1983, taking over the previous responsibilit ...

. 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 Army Field Band, and the headquarters of United States Cyber Command, th ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

; 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 ...

(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 suppo ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

; Commander, 82nd Airborne Division Artillery and Commander, 3rd Battalion, 319th Field Artillery Regiment, 82nd Airborne,

Fort Bragg Fort Bragg (formerly Fort Liberty from 2023–2025) is a United States Army, U.S. Army Military base, military installation located in North Carolina. It ranks among the largest military bases in the world by population, with more than 52,000 m ...

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

; Commander, Battery D, 4th Battalion (Airborne), 325th Infantry (Battalion Combat Team),

U.S. Army Southern European Task Force The Southern European Task Force, Africa (SETAF–AF), formally the United States Army Southern European Task Force, Africa, (SETAF-AF) is a formation of the United States Army headquartered at Caserma Del Din, Italy. History The Southern Eur ...

; 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 became 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) is a humanitarian organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, and is a three-time Nobel Prize laureate. The organization has played an instrumental role in the development of rules of war and ...

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 including corporal punishment, punishment, forced confession, extracting a confession, interrogational torture, interrogation for information, or intimid ...

" 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)