Guantanamo Bay Naval Base

File:Guantanamo.jpg

File:GuantánamoBayTerritory2021OSM.png

The Naval Base occupies three main geographical sections: Leeward Point, Windward Point, and Guantánamo Bay. Guantánamo Bay physically divides the Naval Station into sections. The bay extends past the boundaries of the base into Cuba, where the bay is then referred to as Bahía de Guantánamo. Guantánamo Bay contains several cays, which are identified as Hospital Cay, Medico Cay, North Toro Cay, and South Toro Cay.

Leeward Point of the Naval Station is the site of the active airfield. Major geographical features on Leeward Point include Mohomilla Bay and the Guantánamo River. Three beaches exist on the Leeward side. Two are available for use by base residents, while the third, Hicacal Beach, is closed. Nearby is the US Naval Cemetery at Guantanamo Bay, also known as Cuzco Wells Cemetery. The cemetery holds over 350 burials including that of Captain Henry Smith who died as a result of injuries received during the sinking of his ship the SS Delmundo by the German submarine U-600 on 13 August 1942.{{cite web |url=https://ericwiberg.com/2013/07/passenger-ship-delmundo-lost-in-the-windward-passage-to-u-600-under-bernhard-zurmuhlen-capt-henry-peter-smith-died-in-cuba |title=Passenger ship Delmundo lost in the Windward Passage to U-600 |last=Wiberg |first=Eric |date=6 July 2013 |website=Eric Wiberg Nautical Author & Historian |publisher= Eric Troels Wiberg |access-date=10 June 2024 |quote=}}

Windward Point contains most of the activities at the Naval Station. There are nine beaches available to base personnel. The highest point on the base is John Paul Jones Hill (named after the Revolutionary War hero of the same name) at a total of {{convert|495|ft}}.{{cn|date=September 2023}} The geography of Windward Point is such that there are many coves and peninsulas along the bay shoreline providing ideal areas for mooring ships.

According to Stephen Benz, Stephen Crane described the area as "craggy" and "cut with ravines." He also described the coastline as covered in ridges and "chalky cliffs".

{{See also|Timeline of Guantánamo Bay|List of commanders of Guantanamo Bay Naval Base}}

File:Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba, 1916 ‧ 1.jpg

The area surrounding Guantanamo Bay was originally inhabited by the Taíno people.{{cite web|author=Poole|first=Robert M.|date=October 2011|title=What Became of the Taino|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/what-became-of-the-taino-73824867/|access-date=9 September 2012|work=Smithsonian Magazine}} On 30 April 1494, Christopher Columbus, on his second voyage, arrived and spent the night. The place where Columbus landed is now known as Fisherman's Point. Columbus declared the bay Puerto Grande.{{cite web|author=Murphy|first=M. E.|title=The History of Guantanamo Bay 1494–1964|url=https://www.cnic.navy.mil/guantanamo/About/History/GuantanamoBayHistoryMurphy/Volume1/Chapter1/index.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120831065451/http://www.cnic.navy.mil/guantanamo/About/History/GuantanamoBayHistoryMurphy/Volume1/Chapter1/index.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=31 August 2012|access-date=9 September 2012|publisher=United States Navy|volume=1}} The bay and surrounding areas briefly came under British control during the War of Jenkins' Ear. Prior to the outbreak of the conflict, the bay was referred to as Walthenham Harbor by British cartographers. The British expeditionary force renamed the bay Cumberland Bay. They eventually retreated from the area after an attempt to march to Santiago de Cuba was repulsed by Spanish troops.

{{Main|Spanish–American War|Battle of Guantánamo Bay}}

During the Spanish–American War, the U.S. fleet attacking Santiago{{Cite web|url=http://cubanbattlefields.unl.edu/battlefields/|title=The Santiago Campaign {{!}} Battlefields {{!}} Cuban Battlefields of the Spanish-Cuban-American War|website=cubanbattlefields.unl.edu|access-date=19 April 2019}} secured Guantánamo's harbor for protection during the hurricane season of 1898. The Marines landed at Guantanamo Bay with naval support, and American and Cuban forces routed the defending Spanish troops. There is a monument on McCalla Hill to one Navy officer and five Marines who died in battle at Guantanamo Bay.{{cite news |title=Dayhoff: Happy Birthday, United States Marine Corps |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/maryland/carroll/opinion/cc-lt-dayhoff-111118-story.html |access-date=17 October 2021 |date=9 November 2018}}

The war ended with the Treaty of Paris of 1898, in which Spain formally relinquished control of Cuba. Although the war was over, the United States maintained a strong military presence on the island. In 1901 the United States government passed the Platt Amendment as part of an Army Appropriations Bill.[http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=55 1901 Platt Amendment commentary] at the United States Archives online Section VII of this amendment read

{{Blockquote|That to enable the United States to maintain the independence of Cuba, and to protect the people thereof, as well as for its own defense, the government of Cuba will sell or lease to the United States lands necessary for coaling or naval stations at certain specified points to be agreed upon with the President of the United States.{{Cite web|title=Our Documents - Transcript of Platt Amendment (1903)|url=https://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=false&doc=55&page=transcript|access-date=2021-03-17|website=www.ourdocuments.gov}}|source=}}

After initial resistance by the Cuban Constitutional Convention, the Platt Amendment was incorporated into the Constitution of the Republic of Cuba in 1901.{{cite news|title=The Platt Amendment is Accepted by Cuba|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1901/06/13/117760953.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210204131202/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1901/06/13/117760953.pdf |archive-date=2021-02-04 |url-status=live |access-date=29 February 2016|work=The New York Times|date=13 June 1901}} The Constitution took effect in 1902, and land for a naval base at Guantanamo Bay was granted to the United States the following year.[http://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/dip_cuba002.asp Agreement Between the United States and Cuba for the Lease of Lands for Coaling and Naval stations], 1903.

{{See also|Cuban–American Treaty of Relations (1903)}}

{{Infobox treaty

| name =

| long_name = Agreement for the lease to the United States of lands in Cuba for coaling and naval stations

| image =

| image_width =

| image_alt =

| caption =

| context =

| date_drafted =

| date_signed = {{Start date|df=yes|1903|02|16}}; 23 February 1903

| location_signed = Havana; Washington

| date_sealed =

| date_effective = 23 February 1903

| condition_effective =

| date_expiration =

| date_expiry =

| mediators =

| negotiators =

| original_signatories =

| signatories =

• {{flagcountry|Republic of Cuba (1902–1959)}}
• {{flag|United States|1896}}

| parties =

| ratifiers =

| depositor =

| depositories =

| citations = TS 418; 6 Bevans [https://books.google.com/books?id=79AWAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA1113 1113]

| language =

| languages =

| wikisource =

| wikisource1 =

| footnotes =

}}

{{Infobox treaty

| name =

| long_name = Agreement providing conditions for the lease of coaling or naval stations

| image =

| image_width =

| image_alt =

| caption =

| context =

| date_drafted =

| date_signed = {{Start date|df=yes|1903|07|02}}

| location_signed = Havana

| date_sealed =

| date_effective = 6 October 1903

| condition_effective =

| date_expiration =

| date_expiry =

| mediators =

| negotiators =

| original_signatories =

| signatories =

• {{flagcountry|Republic of Cuba (1902–1959)}}
• {{flag|United States|1896}}

| parties =

| ratifiers =

| depositor =

| depositories =

| citations = TS 426; 6 Bevans [https://books.google.com/books?id=79AWAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA1120 1120]

| language =

| languages =

| wikisource =

| wikisource1 =

| footnotes =

}}

The 1903 lease agreement, which has no fixed expiration date,{{cite magazine | magazine=Slate |access-date = 5 June 2018 | title = How Did the U.S. Get a Naval Base in Cuba? | date= 18 January 2002 | first= Chris | last = Suellentrop | url=https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2002/01/how-did-the-u-s-get-a-naval-base-in-cuba.html }} was executed in two parts. The first, signed in February, consisted of the following provisions:

1. Agreement – The United States of America and the Republic of Cuba, desiring to maintain the Independence of Cuba, will enter into a lease for lands necessary for US Naval Stations.{{Cite book |last= |first= |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=79AWAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA1113 |title=Treaties and Other International Agreements of the United States of America, 1776-1949: Canada-Czechoslovakia |date=1968 |publisher=Department of State |language=en}}
2. Article 1 – Describes the boundaries of the areas being leased, Guantanamo Bay and Bahia Honda.
3. Article 2 – The U.S. may occupy, use, and modify the properties to fit the needs of a coaling and naval station, only. Vessels in the Cuban trade shall have free passage.
4. Article 3 – Cuba retains ultimate sovereignty, but during the occupation, the U.S. exercises sole jurisdiction over the areas described in Article 1. Under conditions to be agreed on, the U.S. has the right to acquire, by purchase or eminent domain, any land included therein.

The second part, signed five months later in July 1903, consisted of the following provisions:[http://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/dip_cuba003.asp Lease to the United States by the Government of Cuba of Certain Areas of Land and Water for Naval or Coaling Stations in Guantanamo and Bahia Honda] U.S. Federal Government, 1903.

1. Article 1 – Payment is $2000 gold coin, annually. All private lands within the boundaries shall be acquired by Cuba. The U.S. will advance rental payments to Cuba to facilitate those purchases.
2. Article 2 – The U.S. shall pay for a survey of the sites and mark the boundaries with fences.
3. Article 3 – There will be no commercial or other enterprise within the leased areas.
4. Article 4 – Mutual extradition
5. Article 5 – Not ports of entry.
6. Article 6 – Ships shall be subject to Cuban port police. The U.S. will not obstruct entry or departure into the bay.
7. Article 7 – This proposal is open for seven months.

SIGNED Theodore Roosevelt and Jose M Garcia Montes.

In 1934, the United States unilaterally changed the payment from gold coin to U.S. dollars per the Gold Reserve Act. The lease amount was set at US$3,386.25, based on the price of gold at the time.{{Cite book|last=Green|first=Timothy|url=https://famguardian.org/Subjects/MoneyBanking/FederalReserve/CentralBankGoldReserves.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100923095152/http://famguardian.org/Subjects/MoneyBanking/FederalReserve/CentralBankGoldReserves.pdf |archive-date=2010-09-23 |url-status=live|title=Central bank gold reserves: An historical perspective since 1845|date=1999|publisher=World Gold Council|oclc=43033613|via=famguardian.org}} In 1973, the U.S. adjusted the lease amount to $3,676.50, and in 1974 to $4,085, based on further increases to the price of gold in USD.{{cite book |last=Strauss |first=Michael |date=2009 |title=The Leasing of Guantanamo Bay |url=http://www.abc-clio.com/ABC-CLIOCorporate/product.aspx?pc=D2074C |publisher=Praeger Security International |page=246 and viii|isbn=978-0-313-37782-2}} Payments have been sent annually, but only one lease payment has been accepted since the Cuban Revolution and Fidel Castro claimed that this check was deposited due to confusion in 1959. The Cuban government has not deposited any other lease check since that time.{{cite news | work=Reuters | access-date = 13 March 2016 | title = Castro: Cuba not cashing US Guantanamo rent checks | date= 17 August 2007 | first= Anthony | last = Boadle | url = https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN17200921 }}

File:Shareds 1906 from GITMO.jpg

The Naval Base became a prime area for winter training for the Atlantic fleet. Due to the large increase in population during the training months, the Naval Base quickly established facilities to support everyday functions. Construction of the Guantanamo Bay fleet range system began as early as 1905 under Captain Rogers. Four primary ranges were built during its construction: Range Alpha, Range Beta, Range Charlie, and Range Delta. Due to the size of the base, sections were shut down in order for range operations to proceed. Ironically, the concrete range system's size and cost led to its downfall. Strong evidence suggests the fleet ranges were used throughout World War I and the beginning of World War II.Carrington, J. (2022). Guantanamo Bay. A Historical Mystery. Independently published {{ISBN|979-8838304131}}

During World War II, the base was set up to use a nondescript number for postal operations. The base used the Fleet Post Office, Atlantic, in New York City, with the address: 115 FPO NY.{{cite web|title=World War II Navy Post Office Numbers|url=http://bluejacket.com/usn-usmc_ww2_location-codes.html|access-date=1 October 2011|archive-date=10 October 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111010184205/http://bluejacket.com/usn-usmc_ww2_location-codes.html|url-status=dead}} The base was also an important intermediate distribution point for merchant shipping convoys from New York City and Key West, Florida, to the Panama Canal and the islands of Puerto Rico, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago.Hague, Arnold The Allied Convoy System 1939–1945 Naval Institute Press 2000 {{ISBN|1-55750-019-3}} p.111

File:U.S-Cuban Border. Guantanamo Bay US Naval Base. - panoramio.jpg

From 1953 to 1959, thousands of Cubans commuted daily from outside the base to jobs within it. In mid-1958, vehicular traffic was stopped; workers were required to walk through the base's several gates. Public Works Center buses were pressed into service almost overnight to carry the tides of workers to and from the gate.

The "Cactus Curtain" is a term describing the line separating the naval base from Cuban-controlled territory, an allusion to Europe's Iron Curtain,{{cite magazine |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,940656,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081229213928/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,940656,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=29 December 2008 |title=Yankees Besieged |magazine=Time |date=16 March 1962}} the Bamboo Curtain in East Asia, and the similar Ice Curtain in the Bering Strait. After the Cuban Revolution, some Cubans sought refuge on the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base. In late 1961, Cuban troops planted an {{convert|8|mi|km|adj=on}} long, {{convert|10|ft|m|adj=on}} wide barrier of Opuntia (prickly pear) cactus along the northeastern section of the {{convert|17|mi|adj=on}} fence surrounding the base in order to prevent checkpoint evasion when moving between the base and Cuba proper.{{cite web |url=http://www1.american.edu/TED/guantan.htm |title=Guantanamo Bay Naval Base and Ecological Crises |work=Trade and Environment Database |publisher=American University |access-date=19 April 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090327053019/http://www.american.edu/TED/guantan.htm |archive-date=27 March 2009 }}

The curtain forms part of a "no man's land" that encircles the base. This area is complete with perimeter patrols, outposts featuring sandbags, and watchtowers, and has been complemented with barbed wire fences, minefields, and cacti. Apart from the cacti, both U.S. and Cuban troops erected, maintained, and otherwise manned these defenses, primarily to prevent checkpoint evasion and possible invasion from the other side.

File:Marines stack mines for disposal.jpg in July 1997.]]

U.S. and Cuban troops placed some 55,000 anti-personnel and anti-tank land mines across the "no man's land" around the perimeter of the naval base, creating the second-largest minefield in the world, and the largest in the Western Hemisphere. Initially, the mines were laid down by US troops, who also laid down signs stating that the landmines were "precautions" and should not be viewed as "aggressive". In response, Cuban troops also laid down their own mines, with both sides completing their minefields in 1961. Between 1961 and 1965, landmine explosions resulted in the deaths of at least 10 people, including as the result of engineering accidents and late-night partygoers. On 16 May 1996, U.S. President Bill Clinton ordered the demining of the American field. They have since been replaced with motion and sound sensors to detect intruders on the base. The Cuban government has not removed its corresponding minefield outside the perimeter.{{cite news |url=http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/cuba/guantanamo-mines.htmv |first=Carol |last=Rosenberg |title=Guantanamo base free of land mines |date=29 June 1999 |work=Miami Herald |access-date=14 February 2009 }}{{Dead link|date=December 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/1731704.stm |title=Destination Guantanamo Bay |work=BBC News |access-date=15 March 2006 | date=28 December 2001}}

During the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, the families of military personnel were evacuated from the base. Notified of the evacuation on 22 October, evacuees were told to pack one suitcase per family member, to bring evacuation and immunization cards, to tie pets in the yard, to leave the keys to the house on the dining table, and to wait in front of the house for buses.{{Cite news |title=Guantanamo Bay Evacuation Order, Oct. 22, 1962 |last=Wiltrout |first=Kate |url=https://www.pilotonline.com/military/article_9d48032a-a1b9-5ec7-8145-288c54e8f5a2.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210621171905/https://www.pilotonline.com/military/article_9d48032a-a1b9-5ec7-8145-288c54e8f5a2.html |archive-date=21 June 2021 |date=5 November 2012 |newspaper=The Virginian-Pilot}} Dependents traveled to the airfield for flights to the United States, or to ports for passage aboard evacuation ships. After the crisis was resolved, family members were allowed to return to the base in December 1962.{{Cite web |title=History of the American Red Cross Station on NSGB |url=https://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=104765 |archive-date=19 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180319211902/http://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=104765 |publisher=United States Navy |access-date=26 September 2019 |url-status=dead }}

From 1939, the base's water was supplied by pipelines that drew water from the Yateras River about {{convert|4.5|mi|km|0}} northeast of the base. The U.S. government paid a fee for this; in 1964, it was about $14,000 a month for about {{convert|2.5|e6U.S.gal|m3|sigfig=1|abbr=unit}} per day. In 1964, the Cuban government stopped the flow. The base had about {{convert|14|e6U.S.gal|m3|sigfig=1|abbr=unit}} of water in storage, and strict water conservation was put into effect immediately. The U.S. first imported water from Jamaica by barge, then relocated a desalination plant from San Diego (Point Loma). When the Cuban government accused the United States of "stealing water", base commander John D. Bulkeley ordered that the pipelines be cut and a section removed. A {{convert|38|in|cm|abbr=on|sp=us|adj=on}} length of the {{convert|14|in|cm|abbr=on}} diameter pipe and a {{convert|20|in|cm|abbr=on}} length of the {{convert|10|in|cm|abbr=on}} diameter pipe were lifted from the ground and the openings sealed.

During the 1960s and 1970s, the base had problems with alcohol and racial tension.{{Cite journal|last=Benz|first=Stephen|date=2018|title=Overlooking Guantánamo|url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/711692|journal=New England Review|language=en|volume=39|issue=4|pages=114–128|doi=10.1353/ner.2018.0116|s2cid=201729092|issn=2161-9131|url-access=subscription}} Harassment and strip searches also became a regular occurrence for Cuban workers on the base.{{Cite book|last=Lipman|first=Jana K.|url=https://california.degruyter.com/view/title/556715|title=Guantanamo: A Working-Class History between Empire and Revolution|date=2008-12-02|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-94237-0|editor-last=Lewis|editor-first=Earl|series=American Crossroads|volume=25|pages=162–171|doi=10.1525/9780520942370-007|s2cid=226759322|editor-last2=Lipsitz|editor-first2=George|editor-last3=Pascoe|editor-first3=Peggy|editor-last4=Sánchez|editor-first4=George|editor-last5=Takagi|editor-first5=Dana}}{{Dead link|date=May 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

Several old guns from the USS Monongahela (1862) have been salvaged and placed around the base. The old warship served as a storeship at Guantanamo until destroyed by fire on 17 March 1908. A {{convert|4|in|mm|adj=on}} gun was salvaged from its wreck and put on display at the Naval Station. Since the gun was deformed by the heat from the fire, it was nicknamed "Old Droopy". A similar gun, possibly also salvaged from the Monongahela, is on display near the Bay View Club on the Naval Station.

By 2006, only two elderly Cubans, Luis Delarosa and Harry Henry, still crossed the base's North East Gate daily to work on the base, because the Cuban government prohibited new recruitment since 1959. They both retired at the end of 2012.{{cite web|last1=Leboy|first1=Suzette|last2=Fox|first2=Ben|title=Era Ends: Base's last two Cuban commuters retire|website=Miami Herald|url=https://www.miamiherald.com/latest-news/article1945464.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151015231909/https://www.miamiherald.com/latest-news/article1945464.html|url-status=live |access-date=15 December 2012|archive-date=15 October 2015}} At the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2013, Cuba's Foreign Minister demanded the U.S. return the base.[http://www.news.com.au/world-news/force-feeding-hunger-strikers-breaches-law/story-fndir2ev-1226633487092 Australian News, May 2013] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130724090722/http://www.news.com.au/world-news/force-feeding-hunger-strikers-breaches-law/story-fndir2ev-1226633487092 |date=24 July 2013 }}, Comments by Cuba to the UN Human Rights Council[http://www.granma.cu/ingles/international-i/26enero-Guantanamo%20is.html Granma, 26 January 2012] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131103171213/http://www.granma.cu/ingles/international-i/26enero-Guantanamo%20is.html |date=3 November 2013 }}, comments on an article in the New York Times on the continued occupation of Cuba{{Cite news|last=Hansen|first=Jonathan M.|date=2012-01-11|title=Opinion {{!}} Give Guantánamo Back to Cuba|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/11/opinion/give-guantanamo-back-to-cuba.html|access-date=2021-03-17|issn=0362-4331|via=Granma}}[https://web.archive.org/web/20131205175524/http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf&AD=ADA373599 Guantanamo, Yankee naval base of crimes and provocations], 1970, (Cuban) Ministry of Foreign Affairs, translated 1977 by U.S. Joint Publications Research Service (PDF)Alfred de Zayas, "The Status of Guantanamo Bay and the Status of the Detainees" in University of British Columbia Law Review, vol. 37, July 2004, pp. 277–342;, A de Zayas Guantanamo Naval Base in Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law, Oxford University Press 2012

File:Guantanamo Bay windmills.jpg

The military facility has{{As of when|date=September 2024}} over 8,500 U.S. sailors and Marines stationed there.{{cite web |title=US Naval Station Guantanamo Bay |url=https://www.naval-technology.com/projects/guantanamo-bay/ |website=Naval Technology |access-date=4 May 2019}}{{cite journal| url=http://www7.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0504/feature8/index.html| title=09360 No-Man's-Land| journal=National Geographic| first=Jeannie| last=Ralston| date=April 2005| access-date=16 March 2006| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071011181556/http://www7.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0504/feature8/index.html| archive-date=11 October 2007| url-status=dead}} It is the only military base the U.S. maintains in a socialist country.

In 2005, the U.S. Navy completed a $12 million wind-power project at the base, erecting four 950 kilowatt, {{convert|275|ft|m|adj=mid| tall}} wind turbines, reducing the reliance on diesel fuel to power the existing diesel generators (the base's primary electricity generation).{{cite press release|title=Navy's New Wind Turbines to Save Taxpayers $1.2 Million in Annual Energy Costs|url=http://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=18059|author=Virginia Bueno|publisher=Naval Facilities Engineering Command|date=25 April 2011|access-date=12 November 2016|archive-date=22 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200222223857/https://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=18059|url-status=dead}}{{cite news |first=Annie |last=Snider |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/gwire/2011/06/13/13greenwire-could-alternative-energy-be-gitmos-next-legacy-85177.html |title=Alternative Energy Be Gitmo's Next Legacy? |work=Greenwire |via=The New York Times |date=13 June 2011 }} In 2006, the wind turbines reduced diesel fuel consumption by {{convert|650000|USgal|e6l|abbr=off|sp=us}} annually.{{cite web |url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/usnavy/5915549848/in/photostream/ |title=Wind turbines at U.S. Naval Station Guantanamo Bay reduce fuel consumption by 650,000 gallons annually |date=30 July 2006 }}

Access to the Naval Station is very limited and must be pre-approved through the appropriate local chain of command with the Commander of the station as the final approval. Since berthing facilities are limited, visitors must be sponsored indicating that they have an approved residence for the duration of the visit.{{cite web|title=Section 1: General Entry Requirements|url=https://www.cnic.navy.mil/navycni/groups/public/@cnrse/@gtmo/documents/document/cnic_050498.pdf|access-date=31 August 2012|publisher=United States Navy|archive-date=2 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121002115722/http://www.cnic.navy.mil/navycni/groups/public/@cnrse/@gtmo/documents/document/cnic_050498.pdf|url-status=dead}}

; Resident units

• Headquarters, Naval Station Guantanamo Bay
• Customer Service Desk (CSD){{cite web |url=https://www.cnic.navy.mil/Regions/cnrse/installations/ns_guantanamo_bay/about/tenant_commands/ |title=Tenant Commands |publisher=United States Navy |access-date=6 September 2012}}
• Joint Task Force Guantanamo{{Cite book|url=http://www.cnic.navy.mil/guantanamo/About/History/GuantanamoBayHistoryMurphy/Volume2/Chapter3/index.htm|title=The History of Guantanamo Bay, 1964–1982|publisher=United States Navy|volume=II|chapter=Chapter 3|access-date=September 5, 2012|archive-date=7 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121007003338/http://www.cnic.navy.mil/guantanamo/About/History/GuantanamoBayHistoryMurphy/Volume2/Chapter3/index.htm|url-status=dead}}
• Headquarters, JTF Guantanamo
• Joint Detention Group
• Joint Intelligence Group
• Joint Medical Group
• U.S. Coast Guard Maritime Security Detachment Guantanamo Bay
• AFN Guantanamo Bay radio and television unit
• Marine Corps Security Force Company
• Naval Computer and Telecommunications Area Master Station Atlantic Detachment Guantanamo Bay
• Naval Hospital Guantanamo Bay
• Navy Supply
• Navy Security Forces
• SEABEE Detachment
• U.S. Coast Guard Aviation Detachment Guantanamo Bay

; Assigned units

• Fleet Composite Squadron Ten (VC-10) (1965–1993)
• U.S. Marine Corps Ground Defense Force (GDF) (1971–2000 [Redesignated as Marine Corps Security Forces Company on 1 Sep 2000])
• Naval Security Group Activity (Company L) (1966–2001){{cite web |url=http://www.history.navy.mil/ar/docs/fa/coll-94.pdf |title=CNO: Shore and Fleet Organization Branch (SNDL) Collection COLL/94 |publisher=United States Navy |access-date=6 September 2012 |archive-date=13 September 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120913033640/http://www.history.navy.mil/ar/docs/fa/coll-94.pdf |url-status=dead }}
• Shore Intermediate Maintenance Activity (SIMA) (1903–1995){{cite web |url=http://www.naval-technology.com/projects/guantanamo-bay |title=US Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba

|publisher=Net Resources International |access-date=5 September 2012}}

• Fleet Training Group (FTG) (1943–1995){{cite journal |title=Fleet Training Group Moves to Mayport|journal=All Hands|date=July 1995|issue=939|page=2 |url=http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/9508184459/fleet-training-group-moves-mayport|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402105059/http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/9508184459/fleet-training-group-moves-mayport|url-status=dead|archive-date=2 April 2015}}

; Homeported watercraft

• YC 1639 (open lighter){{cite web |url=http://www.nvr.navy.mil/nvrservicecraft/c_13P5.htm |title=Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, CU (NAVSTA) Custodian Assignments |work=Naval Vessel Register |access-date=5 September 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150903230231/http://www.nvr.navy.mil/nvrservicecraft/c_13P5.htm |archive-date=3 September 2015 |url-status=dead }}{{cite web |url=http://www.nvr.navy.mil/SHIPDETAILS/SHIPSDETAIL_YC_1639.HTML |title=No Name (YC 1639) Open Lighter (NSP) |work=Naval Vessel Register |access-date=5 September 2012 |archive-date=21 October 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161021151557/http://www.nvr.navy.mil/SHIPDETAILS/SHIPSDETAIL_YC_1639.HTML |url-status=dead }}
• Leeward (YFB-92) (ferry boat){{cite web |url={{Naval Vessel Register service craft URL|id=YFB92}} |title=Leeward (YFB) Ferryboat or Launch (S-P) |work=Naval Vessel Register |access-date=5 September 2012 }}{{Dead link|date=November 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
• Windward (YFB-93) (ferry boat){{cite web |url=http://www.nvr.navy.mil/SHIPDETAILS/SHIPSDETAIL_YFB_93.HTML |title=Windward (YFB93) |work=Naval Vessel Register |access-date=5 September 2012 |archive-date=21 October 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161021151850/http://www.nvr.navy.mil/SHIPDETAILS/SHIPSDETAIL_YFB_93.HTML |url-status=dead }}
• YON 258 (non-self propelled fuel oil barge){{cite web |url=http://www.nvr.navy.mil/SHIPDETAILS/SHIPSDETAIL_YON_258.HTML |title=No Name (YON 258) Fuel Oil Barge (N-S-P) |work=Naval Vessel Register |access-date=5 September 2012 |archive-date=21 October 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161021212258/http://www.nvr.navy.mil/SHIPDETAILS/SHIPSDETAIL_YON_258.HTML |url-status=dead }}
• {{USS|Wanamassa|YTB-820}} (large harbor tug){{cite web |url=http://www.nvr.navy.mil/SHIPDETAILS/SHIPSDETAIL_YTB_820.HTML |title=Wanamassa (YTB 820) Large Harbor Tug (S-P) |work=Naval Vessel Register |access-date=5 September 2012 |archive-date=21 October 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161021152019/http://www.nvr.navy.mil/SHIPDETAILS/SHIPSDETAIL_YTB_820.HTML |url-status=dead }}
• LCU 1671 and MK-8: landing craft used as an alternate ferry for transportation to areas inaccessible by the primary ferry and for moving hazardous cargo.{{cite web |url=http://www.cnic.navy.mil/guantanamo/OperationsAndManagement/Operations/PortOperations/index.htm |title=Port Operations |publisher=United States Navy |access-date=5 September 2012 |archive-date=26 September 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120926111012/http://www.cnic.navy.mil/guantanamo/OperationsAndManagement/Operations/PortOperations/index.htm |url-status=dead }}
• GTMO-5, GTMO-6 and GTMO-7 (50-ft. utility boats): used for personnel transportation during off-ferry hours.

; Civilian contractors

Besides servicemembers, the base houses a large number of civilian contractors working for the military. Many of these contractors are migrant workers from Jamaica and the Philippines, and are thought to constitute up to 40% of the base's population.{{citation|ssrn=2459268|title=Offshoring the Army: Migrant Workers and the U.S. Military|first=Darryl |last=Li|date=2015|volume=62 |journal=UCLA Law Review|pages=124–174}}

Major contractors working at NSGB have included the following:{{citation needed|date=February 2021}}

• KBR
• Schuyler Line Navigation Company (SLNC)
• Satellite Communication Systems Incorporated
• Centerra
• EMCOR
• Islands Mechanical Contractor
• Munilla Construction Management
• RQ Construction
• MCM Construction
• J&J Worldwide Services

Ocean transportation is provided by Schuyler Line Navigation Company, a U.S. Flag Ocean Carrier. Schuyler Line operates under government contract to supply sustainment and building supplies to the base.[https://www.schuylerline.com/cuba-liner-service/ Guantanamo Bay, Cuba Liner Service Schuyler Line Navigation Company]

There are two airfields within the base, Leeward Point Field and McCalla Field. Leeward Point Field is the active military airfield, with the ICAO code MUGM and IATA code NBW.{{cite web| url=http://worldaerodata.com/wad.cgi?id=CU64698&sch=MUGM| title=Guantanamo Bay NS| publisher=WorldAeroData| access-date=31 August 2012| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110805234946/http://www.worldaerodata.com/wad.cgi?id=CU64698&sch=MUGM| archive-date=5 August 2011| url-status=usurped}} McCalla Field was designated as the auxiliary landing field in 1970s, but was no longer a viable airfield by the 1990s.

Leeward Point Field was constructed with a 6,000-foot main runway in 1943;{{Cite book |title=Building the Navy's Bases in World War II: History of the Bureau of Yards and Docks and the Civil Engineer Corps, 1940-1946 |publisher=US Government Printing Office |year=1947 |editor-last=Bingham |editor-first=Kenneth E. |volume=2 |location=Washington, DC |chapter=XVII: Bases in South America and the Caribbean Area, Including Bermuda |access-date=July 10, 2023 |chapter-url=https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/b/building-the-navys-bases/building-the-navys-bases-vol-2.html}} the runway was extended in 1953 to 8,000 feet to accommodate jet aircraft.{{cite web| url=http://www.history.navy.mil/nan/backissues/1970s/1978/dec78.pdf| title=Guantanamo Bay| work=Naval Aviation News| publisher=United States Navy| access-date=31 August 2012| archive-date=14 May 2013| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130514230435/http://www.history.navy.mil/nan/backissues/1970s/1978/dec78.pdf| url-status=dead}}

Leeward Point Field has a single active runway, 10/28, measuring {{convert|8000|ft|abbr=on}}. The former runway, 9/27 was {{convert|8500|ft|abbr=on}}. Currently, Leeward Point Field operates several aircraft and helicopters supporting base operations. Leeward Point Field was home to Fleet Composite Squadron 10 (VC-10) until the unit was phased out in 1993. VC-10 was one of the last active-duty squadrons flying the Douglas A-4 Skyhawk.

McCalla Field was established in 1931 and remained operational until 1970. The airfield was named for Bowman H. McCalla, who was a United States Navy admiral in charge of the Battle of Guantánamo Bay. The current field was expanded in 1941 when the original grass runway was replaced.{{cite web|title=Guantanamo Bay Forts|url=http://www.northamericanforts.com/East/gb.html|website=www.northamericanforts.com}} Naval Air Station Guantanamo Bay was officially established 1 February 1941. Aircraft routinely operating out of McCalla included JRF-5, N3N, J2F, C-1 Trader,{{cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2qMZ64JzqlkC&pg=PA246|title=Sea Legs|chapter=35 McCalla Field|first=Paul|last=Gillcrest|date=2000|publisher=iUniverse|isbn=978-1-4697-9797-7}} and dirigibles.

The airfield was deactivated in the 1970s and was used to house Cuban and Haitian refugees beginning in the 1990s.{{cite web|title=Guantánamo Public Memory Project – Repurposing Gitmo|url=http://blog.gitmomemory.org/2012/10/15/repurposing-gitmo/|website=blog.gitmomemory.org}} Sometime between 1996 and 2001, the refugee camps were dismantled and the area became a collection of abandoned buildings.{{cite book |last1=Greenberg |first1=Karen |title=The Least Worst Place: Guantanamo's First 100 Days |date=27 September 2010 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-983209-5 |page=48 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=INuhojMA20sC&pg=PT48 |access-date=8 September 2021 |language=en}} McCalla Field is now listed as a closed airfield. The USN aviation assets are now located across the bay at Leeward Point Field, about 1.5 miles to the west.

After the events of September 11, the area was reevaluated as a possible location for a detention facility. Camp Justice is now located on the grounds of the former airfield.

The area formerly consisted of three runways, all now closed: 1/19 at {{convert|4500|ft|abbr=on}}, 14/32 at {{convert|2210|ft|abbr=on}}, and 10/28 at {{convert|1850|ft|abbr=on}}.

The former airfield resides at an elevation of {{convert|60|ft|abbr=on}} above mean sea level.

{{Main|Guantanamo Bay detention camp|Cuban refugees at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base|Guantanamo Migrant Operations Center}}

File:Camp Delta, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.jpg

Beginning in the last quarter of the 20th century, the base was used to house Cuban and Haitian refugees intercepted on the high seas. In the early 1990s, it held refugees who fled Haiti after military forces overthrew president Jean-Bertrand Aristide. These refugees were held in a detainment area called Camp Bulkeley until United States district court Judge Sterling Johnson, Jr. declared the camp unconstitutional on 8 June 1993. This decision was later vacated. The last Haitian migrants departed Guantanamo on 1 November 1995.{{citation needed|date=February 2021}}

Beginning in 2002, following the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, started in response to the September 11 attacks, a small portion of the base was used to detain several hundred individuals with ties or suspected ties to Islamic terrorist groups such as al-Qaeda and the Taliban. These detainees were not afforded POW status or facing formal charges but instead designated enemy combatants; assigned to confinement in Camp Delta, Camp Echo, Camp Iguana, and the now-closed Camp X-Ray. In litigation regarding the availability of fundamental rights to those imprisoned at the base, the U.S. Supreme Court has recognized that the detainees "have been imprisoned in territory over which the United States exercises exclusive jurisdiction and control."Rasul v. Bush, 542 U.S. 466 (2004). Therefore, the detainees have the fundamental right to due process of law under the Fifth Amendment. A district court has since held that the "Geneva Conventions applied to the Taliban detainees, but not to members of Al-Qaeda terrorist organization."In re Guantanamo detainee Cases, 355 F.Supp.2d 443 (D.D.C. 2005).

On 10 June 2006, the Department of Defense reported that three Guantanamo Bay detainees took their own lives. The military reported the men hanged themselves with nooses made of sheets and clothes.[https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/11/AR2006061100357.html DOD Identifies 3 Guantanamo Suicides], The Washington Post, 11 June 2006 A study published by Seton Hall Law's Center for Policy and Research, while making no conclusions regarding what actually transpired, asserts that the military investigation failed to address significant issues detailed in that report.[http://law.shu.edu/ProgramsCenters/PublicIntGovServ/policyresearch/center-policy-research.cfm Death in Camp Delta] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141228125628/http://law.shu.edu/ProgramsCenters/PublicIntGovServ/policyresearch/center-policy-research.cfm |date=28 December 2014 }}, Seton Hall University School of Law. (18 MB)

On 6 September 2006, President George W. Bush announced that alleged or non-alleged combatants held by the CIA would be transferred to the custody of Department of Defense, and held at Guantanamo Prison. Of approximately 500 prisoners in Guantanamo Bay, only 10 have been tried by the Guantanamo military commission, but all cases have been stayed pending the adjustments being made to comply with the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Hamdi v. Rumsfeld.{{Cite web |title=FindLaw's United States Supreme Court case and opinions. |url=https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-supreme-court/542/507.html |access-date=2022-07-20 |website=Findlaw |language=en-US}}

In January 2009, President Obama signed an executive order directing the closing of the Guantánamo detention camp within a year.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/23/us/politics/23GITMOCND.html|title=Obama Orders Secret Prisons and Detention Camps Closed|access-date=22 January 2009 |work=The New York Times |first=Scott |last=Shane |date=23 January 2009}} This plan was thwarted for the time being on 20 May 2009, when the United States Senate voted to keep the prison at Guantanamo Bay open for the foreseeable future and forbid the transfer of any detainees to facilities in the United States. Senator Daniel Inouye, a Democrat from Hawaii and chairman of the appropriations committee, said he favored keeping Guantanamo open until Obama produced a "coherent plan for closing the prison."{{cite news| title=Senate Nixes Obama's Guantanamo Plan| url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/senate-nixes-obama-s-guantanamo-plan-1.789725| publisher=CBC News| date=20 May 2009| access-date=20 October 2011}}

Consequently, Obama decided to postpone difficult decisions on the details for at least six months.{{cite news|url=http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2009/1016/p02s07-usgn.html|title=Obama's Guantánamo, Counterterror Policies Similar to Bush's?|author=Warren Richey|work=The Christian Science Monitor|date=15 October 2009}}{{Better reference needed|date=August 2023}} On 7 March 2011, Obama issued a new executive order permitting indefinite detention of Guantánamo detainees.{{cite press release|url=https://www.aclu.org/national-security/president-obama-issues-executive-order-institutionalizing-indefinite-detention|title=President Obama Issues Executive Order Institutionalizing Indefinite Detention|date=7 March 2011|publisher=American Civil Liberties Union}} This decision was codified into federal law by provision added to the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2011/12/obama-makes-it-official-suspected-terrorists-can-be-indefinitely-detained-without-trial/333690/ |title=Obama Makes It Official: Suspected Terrorists Can Be Indefinitely Detained Without a Trial|date=31 December 2011|magazine=The Atlantic|access-date=5 July 2012|archive-date=1 July 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120701131543/http://www.theatlanticwire.com/politics/2011/12/obama-makes-it-official-suspected-terrorists-can-be-indefinitely-detained-without-trial/46818/ |url-status=live }}

In early February 2021, the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden declared his intention to shut down the facility before he leaves office.{{Cite web|author=Ellie Kaufman|title=Biden administration says it intends to close Guantanamo prison|url=https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/12/politics/biden-guantanamo-bay/index.html|access-date=2021-02-12 |publisher=CNN |date=12 February 2021 }} He did not.

In July 2021, an additional detainee was released.{{Cite news|last1=Rosenberg|first1=Carol|last2=Savage|first2=Charlie|date=2021-07-19|title=Biden Administration Transfers Its First Detainee From Guantánamo Bay|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/19/us/politics/guantanamo-bay-detainee-released.html|access-date=2021-08-26|issn=0362-4331}}

In June 2022, an Afghan prisoner held at Guantanamo Bay for about 15 years without trial was released.{{Cite web |title=Afghan held at Guantanamo Bay freed after 15 years without trial |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/6/24/afghan-prisoner-at-guantanamo-bay-released-after-15-years |access-date=2022-06-25 |website=www.aljazeera.com |language=en}}

In February 2023, three prisoners were released from Guantanamo Bay. Majid Khan, who pleaded guilty before a Military Commission in 2012, had completed his sentence of 10 years, and was released to Belize.{{Cite web |title=Guantanamo Bay Detainee Transfer Announced |url=https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/3286127/guantanamo-bay-detainee-transfer-announced/ |access-date=2023-03-10 |website=defense.gov |language=en}} Brothers Abdul Al-Rahim Ghulam Rabbani and Mohammed Ahmad Ghulam Rabbani, whose detentions were deemed no longer necessary in order to protect the United States from a national security threat, were released and repatriated to the government of Pakistan.{{Cite web |title=Guantanamo Bay Detainee Transfer Announced |url=https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/3308522/guantanamo-bay-detainee-transfer-announced/ |access-date=2023-03-10 |website=defense.gov |language=en}}

In March 2023, Ghassan al-Sharbi was released to his home country of Saudi Arabia from Guantanamo Bay, after being deemed no longer necessary to detain in order to protect the United States from a national security threat.{{Cite web |title=Guantanamo Bay Detainee Transfer Announced |url=https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/3323397/guantanamo-bay-detainee-transfer-announced/ |access-date=2023-03-10 |website=defense.gov |language=en}}

{{RemainingAtGuantanamo}}

In June 2023, United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Counter-Terrorism Fionnuala Ní Aoláin released her final report on the detention center. The report concludes that prisoners endure "ongoing cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment" and that the detention center should be closed.{{Cite news |last=Hernandez |first=Joe |date=2023-06-27 |title=Guantánamo Bay detainees continue to face 'inhuman' treatment, U.N. investigator finds |url=https://www.npr.org/2023/06/27/1184597427/guantanamo-bay-detainees-continue-to-face-inhuman-treatment-u-n-investigator-fin |publisher=National Public Radio |access-date=2023-06-30}}{{Cite web |date=2023-06-28 |title=UN report criticizes treatment of inmates at Guantanamo Bay as 'cruel' and 'inhuman' |url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/un-report-criticizes-treatment-of-inmates-at-guantanamo-bay-as-cruel-and-inhuman |access-date=2023-06-30 |website=PBS NewsHour |language=en-us}}{{Cite web |date=2023-06-14 |title=Technical Visit to the United States and Guantánamo Detention Facility by the Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms while Countering Terrorism |url=https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/issues/terrorism/sr/2023-06-26-SR-terrorism-technical-visit-US-guantanamo-detention-facility.pdf |access-date=2023-06-30 |publisher=United Nations Human Rights--Office of the High Commissioner}}

In early 2025, the Trump administration started sending numerous illegal migrants there, and he has stated that he intends to send the worst criminal migrants to the prison. Multiple groups and people have filed lawsuits against this, claiming that the prisoners do not have access to a lawyer or habeas corpus, and that the prisoners’ conditions were brutal enough that some have attempted suicide.{{Cite web |date=2025-03-14 |title=Judge rules against advocates trying to help migrants sent to Guantanamo and to stop more transfers |url=https://apnews.com/article/guantanamo-bay-federal-judge-trump-administration-immigration-8ba17e20dabd8e8a5851bd2d5e4e3a59 |access-date=2025-03-19 |website=AP News |language=en}}

File:Guantanamo Naval Bases McDonalds, on April 2006 -- the 20th anniversary of its opening.png

Despite the prohibition on the establishment of "commercial or other enterprises" as stated in Article 3 of the second part of the lease, several recognized American food outlets have been opened at the military base. Most of the restaurants on the installation are franchises which are owned and operated by the Department of the Navy.{{cite news|url=http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/cuba/story/586867.html |title=Not just a prison, the Navy sees many uses for Guantanamo |work=Miami Herald |author=Andrew Selsky |date=27 November 2008 |access-date=28 November 2008 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/5chrt2usa?url=http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/cuba/story/586867.html |archive-date=30 November 2008 }} Proceeds from these restaurants are used to support Morale, Welfare and Recreation (MWR) activities for service personnel and their families.{{cite web| url=http://www.mwr.navy.mil/mwrprgms/brandedfood.htm| title=Branded Food & Beverage Concepts| access-date=22 January 2010| author=Morale, Welfare and Recreation| publisher=U.S. Navy| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090414122043/http://mwr.navy.mil/mwrprgms/brandedfood.htm| archive-date=14 April 2009| url-status=dead}} These restaurants are located inside the base; as such, they are not accessible to Cubans.

A Baskin-Robbins ice cream stand, which opened in the 1980s, was one of the first business franchises allowed on the base.{{cite news| url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1985-12-20-8503280293-story.html |title= U.S.-CUBAN FACE-OFF JUST DAILY DRUDGERY |newspaper=Chicago Tribune|date=20 December 1985| access-date=15 January 2019}} In early 1986, the base added the first and only McDonald's restaurant within Cuba.{{cite web| url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/military/july-dec03/gbay_10-14.html| title=INSIDE GUANTANAMO| publisher=Online NewsHour| date=14 October 2003| first=Margaret| last=Warner| access-date=15 March 2006| archive-date=15 January 2014| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140115172516/http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/military/july-dec03/gbay_10-14.html| url-status=dead}}{{cite news|author=Morris|first=Joseph A.|date=15 November 2002|title=Profession of the Week: McDonald's workers|publisher=The Wire (JTF-GTMO)|url=http://www.jtfgtmo.southcom.mil/wire/wire/WirePDF/v2/TheWire-v2-i23-15Nov02.pdf|url-status=dead|access-date=7 June 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120611043608/http://www.jtfgtmo.southcom.mil/wire/wire/WirePDF/v2/TheWire-v2-i23-15Nov02.pdf|archive-date=11 June 2012}} A Subway restaurant was opened in 1987 and closed in 1994 when the Navy Department refused to renew the lease.{{cite news |author=Pellegrini |first=Frank N. |date=22 November 2002 |title=Monday Night Football at Subway: Open until it is over |url=http://www.jtfgtmo.southcom.mil/wire/wire/WirePDF/v2/TheWire-v2-i24-22Nov02.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120611043659/http://www.jtfgtmo.southcom.mil/wire/wire/WirePDF/v2/TheWire-v2-i24-22Nov02.pdf |archive-date=11 June 2012 |access-date=7 June 2009 |work=The Wire}} In 2004, a combined KFC and A&W restaurant was opened at the bowling alley and a Pizza Hut Express was added to the Windjammer Restaurant.{{cite web |url=http://www.jtfgtmo.southcom.mil/community/dining.html |title=Dining |access-date=22 January 2009 |publisher=JTF Guantanamo |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081203104857/http://www.jtfgtmo.southcom.mil/community/dining.html |archive-date=3 December 2008 |url-status=dead }} There is also a cafe that sells Starbucks coffee, and there is a combined KFC and Taco Bell restaurant.{{cite web| url=https://www.eater.com/2010/6/9/6730541/the-military-spent-1-45-million-opening-a-starbucks-and-a-kfc-taco|title=The Military Spent $1.45 Million Opening a Starbucks and a KFC/Taco Bell in Guantanamo Bay|date=9 June 2010| access-date=15 January 2019}}

Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) provides for the education of dependent personnel with two schools. Both schools are named for Rear Admiral William Thomas Sampson. W.T. Sampson Elementary School serves grades K–5 and W. T. Sampson High School serves grades 6–12. The Villamar Child Development Center provides child care for dependents from six weeks to five years old. MWR operates a Youth Center that provides activities for dependents.{{cite web|url=http://apps.mhf.dod.mil/pls/psgprod/f?p=MI:CONTENT:987950728757325::::P4_INST_ID,P4_CONTENT_TITLE,P4_CONTENT_EKMT_ID,P4_CONTENT_DIRECTORY:925,Child%20Care,30.90.210.30.90.0.0.0.0,27|title=Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba|publisher=Department of Defense|access-date=13 December 2011}}{{Dead link|date=January 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

Some former students of Guantánamo have shared stories of their experiences with the Guantánamo Public Memory Project.{{cite web|title=Guantánamo Stories|url=http://gitmomemory.org/stories/|publisher=Guantánamo Public Memory Project|access-date=4 April 2013}} The 2013 documentary Guantanamo Circus directed by Christina Linhardt and Michael Rose reveals a glimpse of day-to-day life on GTMO as seen through the eyes of circus performers who visit the base.[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2760174/ Guantanamo Circus (2013) – IMDb] IMDB It is used as a reference by the Guantánamo Public Memory Project.

The bay has an annual rainfall of about {{cvt|24|in}}.{{cite web|author=Lisio|first=Stephen A.|date=June 1994|title=Guantanamo Bay Naval Base and Ecological Crises|url=http://www1.american.edu/TED/guantan.htm|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090327053019/http://www.american.edu/TED/guantan.htm|archive-date=27 March 2009|publisher=American University}} The amount of rainfall has resulted in the base being classified as a semi-arid desert environment. The annual average high temperature on the base is {{cvt|31.2|°C|°F|order=flip}}, the annual average low is {{cvt|22.5|°C|°F|order=flip}}.

Notable people born at the naval base include actor Peter Bergman{{Cite web |title=Peter Bergman Biography |url=https://www.cbs.com/shows/the_young_and_the_restless/cast/61666/ |publisher=CBS}} and American guitarist Isaac Guillory.{{cite news| title= Obituary of Isaac Guillory| work= The Independent (London)| date= 11 January 2001| url= https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/isaac-guillory-728856.html| first= Nicholas| last= Flynn| access-date= 25 September 2019| archive-date= 22 December 2010| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20101222214939/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/isaac-guillory-728856.html| url-status= dead}}

{{Portal|Cuba}}

• COVID-19 pandemic in the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base
• Cuba–United States relations
• A Few Good Men – A play by Aaron Sorkin, and later a film adaptation about an unlawful hazing incident taking place amongst marines at the naval base in 1986.
• The Road to Guantanamo – A docudrama directed by Michael Winterbottom about the incarceration of three British detainees at the naval base.
• Cuban–American Treaty of Relations
• Panama Canal Zone
• Pituffik Space Base, an American space base in Greenland with a similar lease agreement

{{Reflist}}

• Alfred de Zayas (July 2004). "The Status of Guantanamo Bay and the Status of the Detainees" in University of British Columbia Law Review, vol. 37. pp. 277–34.
• A. de Zayas (2012). "Guantanamo Naval Base" in Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law. Oxford University Press.
• Jonathan M. Hansen (2011). Guantánamo: An American History. New York: Hill and Wang.
• Mason, Theodore K. (1984). Beyond the Cactus Curtain: The Story of Guantanamo Bay. New York: Dodd, Mead.

{{Commons category|Naval Station Guantanamo Bay}}

{{Wikinews category|Guantanamo Bay}}

{{Wikisource|Marines Signaling Under Fire at Guantanamo}}

{{Wikisource|United States – Cuban Agreements and Treaty of 1934}}

• {{Official website}}
• [http://zone-interdite.net/P/ Virtual 3D Walkthrough of Camp Delta (from the Art project Zone*Interdite)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210326151149/http://www.zone-interdite.net/P/ |date=26 March 2021 }}

{{Cuba–United States relations}}

{{USAAF Antisubmarine Command}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Guantanamo Bay

Category:1898 establishments in Cuba

Category:1898 establishments in the United States

Category:Banana Wars

Category:Buildings and structures in Guantánamo Province

Category:Geography of Guantánamo Province

Category:International territorial disputes of the United States

Category:Military installations established in 1898

Category:Military installations of the United States in Cuba

Category:Spanish–American War

Category:Territorial disputes of Cuba

Category:United States Navy installations

Category:War on terror