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The History of Camp Tracy: Japanese WWII POWs and the Future of Strategic Interrogation
The United States' Global War on Terrorism is in its sixth year with no end in sight. Intelligence-gathering is crucial to the successful prosecution of this struggle. These days, though, the mere mentioning of detention and interrogation evokes scandalous and degrading images. So we have the dilemma of determining how the United States can successfully obtain necessary information from a foreign and hostile enemy without alienating its own citizenry and the international community. Part of the resolution to that dilemma may lie right here. In his graphic account of Camp Tracy, US Army Major Alexander D. Corbin looks back at a time when the United States fought and won against an enemy that was profoundly different from Americans in appearance, culture, and religion. His in-depth analysis illustrates many parallels between this past enemy and today's adversaries. It argues convincingly that the successful tactics and techniques of the past can still be applied today and in the future.
190 pages, Paperback
First published June 24, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 14, 2022
This book is a quick read, which belies the depth of scholarship that has gone into it.
Corbin is a US Army intelligence officer with professional experience of the interrogation game - he was involved in sweeping up the mess left behind by the abuses at Abu Ghraib. His main concern here is to draw out the parallels between US interrogation of Japanese prisoners in WW2 and of terrorist suspects in the post 9/11 'Global War on Terror'. In both cases each side demonised the other. It was difficult to grasp the opponents radically different culture, language, ethos, and eagerness to die for their cause.
Corbin compares the things that went right at the WW2 Camp Tracy interrogation centre in California with counterproductive failures at modern equivalents in Iraq and Cuba, aiming to draw lessons for future operations. I can only imagine his reaction when a future US president (the book was published in 2009) announced, 'torture works'. His whole thesis is that it doesn't.
One point he doesn't make is that Japanese soldiers wore uniform, so it was easy to tell who they were.
For the historian this is one of the few good sources on the history of Camp Tracy (a.k.a. Byron Hot Springs). It allows us to look at the points of similarity and difference with CSDIC UK and Fort Hunt near Washington. It would have been good to have more analysis of the intelligence product and how it was used, but Corbin admits this is a tricky ask.
My copy was printed by Lulu and the production values are, frankly, poor. Layout, typography, paper stock - all could do with improvement. If there's one single thing I would point to the document images in Appendix C could usefully be cleaned up to improve readability.
Still, a solid four-star read (if you are interested in the topic) which fills a yawning gap.
Corbin is a US Army intelligence officer with professional experience of the interrogation game - he was involved in sweeping up the mess left behind by the abuses at Abu Ghraib. His main concern here is to draw out the parallels between US interrogation of Japanese prisoners in WW2 and of terrorist suspects in the post 9/11 'Global War on Terror'. In both cases each side demonised the other. It was difficult to grasp the opponents radically different culture, language, ethos, and eagerness to die for their cause.
Corbin compares the things that went right at the WW2 Camp Tracy interrogation centre in California with counterproductive failures at modern equivalents in Iraq and Cuba, aiming to draw lessons for future operations. I can only imagine his reaction when a future US president (the book was published in 2009) announced, 'torture works'. His whole thesis is that it doesn't.
One point he doesn't make is that Japanese soldiers wore uniform, so it was easy to tell who they were.
For the historian this is one of the few good sources on the history of Camp Tracy (a.k.a. Byron Hot Springs). It allows us to look at the points of similarity and difference with CSDIC UK and Fort Hunt near Washington. It would have been good to have more analysis of the intelligence product and how it was used, but Corbin admits this is a tricky ask.
My copy was printed by Lulu and the production values are, frankly, poor. Layout, typography, paper stock - all could do with improvement. If there's one single thing I would point to the document images in Appendix C could usefully be cleaned up to improve readability.
Still, a solid four-star read (if you are interested in the topic) which fills a yawning gap.
December 1, 2020
"By looking back at how the United States conducted interrogations against the Japanese, valuable lessons can be distilled and applied for prosecuting the GWOT both today and in the future."
I agree with the author's statement quoted above, but he fails to even scratch the surface of accomplishing what he supposedly set out to do with this piece. Its an interesting read, but disappointing.
The greatest disappointment was in his section on 'Findings' - which is where you would think to find a narrative of his perspective of how the lessons learned from Camp Tracy could be applied to interrogation today. But the author's findings turned out to be a purely descriptive narrative of the direct lessons in the WWII context, and completely lacked any analytic discussion of how those findings apply or could influence current interrogation operations. I would also like to have seen a bit of comparative discussion of how the interrogation methodology used at Camp Tracy compared with existing interrogation doctrine in WWII (FM 30-15) and how it compares with current doctrine (FM 2-22.3).
As a descriptive volume of the effort at Camp Tracy, the book was OK. If one is expecting any sort of substantive analysis of lessons learned to inform current interrogation operations, this book does not even begin to approach that subject.
More broadly, the book suffered from what seems to be a rushed publication from thesis to book, and lacks any attempt at refining the basic structure of the text and form of the narrative. The publication is also low quality, and the many illustrations are of very poor resolution and further detract from what could have been a decent volume covering a little-known piece of intelligence history.
I agree with the author's statement quoted above, but he fails to even scratch the surface of accomplishing what he supposedly set out to do with this piece. Its an interesting read, but disappointing.
The greatest disappointment was in his section on 'Findings' - which is where you would think to find a narrative of his perspective of how the lessons learned from Camp Tracy could be applied to interrogation today. But the author's findings turned out to be a purely descriptive narrative of the direct lessons in the WWII context, and completely lacked any analytic discussion of how those findings apply or could influence current interrogation operations. I would also like to have seen a bit of comparative discussion of how the interrogation methodology used at Camp Tracy compared with existing interrogation doctrine in WWII (FM 30-15) and how it compares with current doctrine (FM 2-22.3).
As a descriptive volume of the effort at Camp Tracy, the book was OK. If one is expecting any sort of substantive analysis of lessons learned to inform current interrogation operations, this book does not even begin to approach that subject.
More broadly, the book suffered from what seems to be a rushed publication from thesis to book, and lacks any attempt at refining the basic structure of the text and form of the narrative. The publication is also low quality, and the many illustrations are of very poor resolution and further detract from what could have been a decent volume covering a little-known piece of intelligence history.
September 1, 2015
The author, Corbin, is a major who did similar work and this is a modern day comparison between Japanese POWs and Iraqi POWs at Abu Greb where the author was stationed.
Corbin notes no enhanced interrogation was ever used at Camp Tracy. This as a contrast to what happened in both Iraq and Gitmo. Not mention of DIA involvement was made. I might have rated this slightly higher.
The book is an interesting historic look at past interrogation with comment comparing cultural differences (to German and Italian POWs). The rates of capture in the Pacific were quite low (single digit percentages) attributed to 6 significant cultural reasons.
I picked up a signed copy at the Brentwood Corn Festival (2009, and loaned to friends). Brentwood is a new suburb not far from Byron Hot Springs where Camp Tracy was.
Corbin notes no enhanced interrogation was ever used at Camp Tracy. This as a contrast to what happened in both Iraq and Gitmo. Not mention of DIA involvement was made. I might have rated this slightly higher.
The book is an interesting historic look at past interrogation with comment comparing cultural differences (to German and Italian POWs). The rates of capture in the Pacific were quite low (single digit percentages) attributed to 6 significant cultural reasons.
I picked up a signed copy at the Brentwood Corn Festival (2009, and loaned to friends). Brentwood is a new suburb not far from Byron Hot Springs where Camp Tracy was.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews