Inside the Ring

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Prison shortage

It's the Army that maintains a network of detainee camps and prisons in Afghanistan and Iraq.

But now the Air Force plans to get more involved. Headquarters sent out a message yesterday asking for 100 airmen to volunteer for "detainee operations duty in Iraq."

Applicants from grades of senior airmen to master sergeant must have a current top-secret clearance, an outstanding performance record and "certification from their commander that they possess the maturity and judgment for this duty."

Character counts. The Army is beleaguered by a number of prison camp scandals in which detainees were abused, and in a relatively few cases killed.

The Air Force message says airmen will be called on for interrogation and analysis. Since those are not typical Air Force missions, candidates will have to undergo interrogation classes at Fort Bliss, Texas, and Fort Huachuca, Ariz.

The classes include the Initial Interrogator Course and the Enhanced Analyst and Interrogator Training Course.

Wiggle room

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld did some dancing this week over the issue of troop levels in Iraq. In the process, he managed a slight rebuke of an Army general.