Beaufort National Guard unit to deploy to Guantanamo Bay

A S.C. Army National Guard unit in Beaufort will deploy to Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, a National Guard spokeswoman said Monday.

About 100 of the 140 soldiers in Beaufort’s 131st Military Police Co. will leave for Cuba during the next fiscal year, which begins in October, said Lt. Col. Cindi King. She declined to give exact dates for the deployment, citing security concerns.

The soldiers will join Joint Task Force Guantanamo, which operates the base’s prison camps.

"The National Guard has many deployments programmed on a regular basis to meet the needs expressed by our nation,” U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Robert Livingston, the state’s top military officer, said in a statement. “The S.C. National Guard's men and women continue to train and mobilize to support operations around the world whenever needed, including Guantanamo. We are very proud of our great Soldiers and Airmen."

Since 2002, Guantanamo has housed a military prison for terrorism suspects. According to multiple reports, 80 prisoners remain at the facility after nine Yemeni detainees were transferred to Saudi Arabia in April.

President Barack Obama has promised to close the prison and wants to transfer some of the remaining detainees to the U.S., moves facing strong opposition from Republicans. South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley told Congress last week that transferring the prisoners to Charleston, a possible location scouted by the Pentagon, is a bad idea.

The 131st Military Police has been active since 2010, King said. The deployment will be its first as a unit, she said, but small groups from Beaufort supported military police in Kosovo and Afghanistan in 2012.

Beaufort is currently the only S.C. National Guard unit ordered to go to Guantanamo.

This story was originally published May 2, 2016 at 12:40 PM with the headline "Beaufort National Guard unit to deploy to Guantanamo Bay."