Officer tapped to run Gitmo went to school with Obama

Officer tapped to run Gitmo went to school with Obama
By Andrew O. Selsky, The Associated Press
European edition, Sunday, February 1, 2009

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — A senior Navy officer based in Hawaii who once went to school with President Barack Obama will be the next commander of the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the Pentagon said Friday.

Rear Adm. Thomas H. Copeman III has been assigned as commander of the Joint Task Force that runs the U.S. offshore prison in Cuba, said Adm. Gary Roughead, the chief of naval operations.

Copeman — the son and grandson of Navy veterans — is the deputy chief of staff for operations, training and readiness for the U.S. Pacific Fleet in Pearl Harbor.

The current commander of Joint Task Force-Guantanamo is Navy Rear Adm. David Thomas, who assumed a two-year tour of duty last May, according to Navy Cmdr. Pauline Storum, director of public affairs for the joint task force.

Military press officials at the Pentagon, Pearl Harbor and Guantanamo said they did not know when the change of command would occur.


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