Oh, please. They’re not deployed in daily warfare, and only 90 miles (practically commuting distance) from the U.S.

Ringed by cells where bearded men pace back and forth behind windowed doors, a U.S. sailor in camouflage fatigues stood by a metal table with a roll of toilet paper, portioning out strips of 30 squares each.

Beside him, another sailor polishes one of the face shields that protect guards at the Guantanamo naval base’s maximum-security Camp 6 from flying spit and urine-feces “cocktails” hurled by prisoners.

The two guards are among 1,800 U.S. troops at the camp that holds 340 suspected al Qaeda and Taliban captives at the U.S. naval base in southeast Cuba and their commander is worried about their morale.

Rear Adm. Mark Buzby, who took command of the operation in May, conducted a survey that showed 38 percent had high morale, 32 percent had low morale and 31 percent fell somewhere in between.

“I read that to say about two-thirds of you are not very happy,” Buzby told his troops in a report on the survey results.

[snip]

For guards on the front line of the U.S. war on terrorism at Guantanamo, that often involves tedious chores such as counting out toilet paper rations.

“Noncompliant” prisoners who violate camp rules are allotted 30 squares a day because bigger wads of tissue can be moistened and dried to make crude papier-mache-type shanks for use as weapons to attack guards, said Army Staff Sgt. Jerry Rushing.

[snip]

Guards remove their name tags inside the razor-wire ringed camps and usually do not want their names used in press reports. Many fear al Qaeda could track them down and “that they could be the butt of retribution,” Buzby said.

They work 12-hour shifts wearing heavy Kevlar anti-stab vests under their uniforms. Guantanamo is searingly hot, the base is isolated and the balky Internet connections can make it difficult to keep in touch with family during the year-long deployments that most guards serve.

The military’s morale and welfare department provides amusements such as bowling, movies, a jazz festival and free fishing trips. It recently flew in a tattoo artist.

The military also has begun letting spouses and children fly in for visits when there is space available on troop flights, Buzby said. [Attorneys for the imprisoned and uncharged, not so much — voxd] Article