Dirk Padgett is an American lawyer and officer in the

United States Navy Reserve The United States Navy Reserve (USNR), known as the United States Naval Reserve from 1915 to 2004, is the Reserve Component (RC) of the United States Navy. Members of the Navy Reserve, called reservists, are categorized as being in either the S ...

Judge Advocate Judge-advocates are military lawyers serving in different capacities in the military justice systems of different jurisdictions. Australia The Australian Army Legal Corps (AALC) consists of Regular and Reserve commissioned officers that prov ...

corp. Padgett is notable for his appointment to serve as a prosecutor for a

Guantanamo military commission The Guantanamo military commissions were established by President George W. Bush through a military order on November 13, 2001, to try certain non-citizen terrorism suspects at the Guantanamo Bay prison. To date, there have been a total of eight ...

. In civilian life Padgett is a Prosecutor in Bedford County

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

. He was hired as the Assistant Commonwealth Attorney for Bedford County in late 1995. He was recalled to serve a hitch of active duty in

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

on October 14, 2004. On January 5, 2005 the ''

Roanoke Times ''The Roanoke Times'' is the primary newspaper in Southwestern Virginia and is based in Roanoke, Virginia, United States. It is published by Lee Enterprises. In addition to its headquarters in Roanoke, it maintains a bureau in Christiansburg, ...

'' published an op-ed by Padgett, entitled ''"Beware uninformed blathering about Iraq from the safety of home"''. Padgett, then a Lieutenant Commander serving in

, was critical of civilians at home who criticized the conduct of the war, without ever experiencing military service.

Carol Rosenberg Carol Rosenberg is a senior journalist at ''The New York Times.'' Long a military-affairs reporter at the ''Miami Herald'', from January 2002 into 2019 she reported on the operation of the United States' Guantanamo Bay detention camps, at its nav ...

, writing in the ''

Lakeland Ledger ''The Ledger'' is a daily newspaper serving Lakeland, Florida, and the Polk County area. History The paper was founded on August 22, 1924, as the ''Lakeland Evening Ledger''. In 1927, it bought its main competitor, the morning ''Lakeland S ...

'', on July 15, 2009, described the Military Commission's new electronic audio management system malfunctioning when

Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...

Padgett tried to make his opening remarks. According to Rosenberg Padgett requested a delay, while the Obama administration reviewed the military commission system.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Padgett, Dirk Guantanamo Bay attorneys Living people Year of birth missing (living people)