It was our first morning covering Brave Shield XX, a Joint Chiefs multi-service, multi-location annual military training exercise at Fort Lewis, Washington. My staff sergeant was a 14-year Army veteran and a full-time Public Affairs employee of the Oregon Army National Guard. Despite being a Navy veteran, it was my first experience seeing the Army in action and how a Public Affairs unit functions in the field.

The military map detailing the locations of all the Red and Blue forces was spread out on the Jeep hood. We were noting units and planning our first day when I saw Prisoner of War Holding Area penciled on a remote back area.

Looking up I asked my sergeant, “Ever covered a Prisoner of War Holding Area?” She responded in the negative, and said to add it to our list.

After dropping by the fuel farm and shooting some great action photos of the early morning refueling operation we headed up the road to the P.O.W. Camp. According to our list of exercise participating units, the Oregon Military Police Reserve Unit from Portland was supposed to be attached to the command running the Prisoner processing and holding operation.

The sergeant and I considered this just another of the 15 to 18 stories we’d be doing throughout the day covering Oregon Air and Army National Guard units along with several active duty Army units that the Fort Lewis Public Affairs Officer had asked us to photograph and feature.

The MP at the make-shift entry point to the P.O.W. Processing Area checked our Neutral Forces go anywhere pass and waived us through. Parking near the first tent that we came to, we parked the Jeep, grabbed our 35mm cameras and note pads.

Entering the tent we found a blindfolded prisoner being processed by an Oregon MP. The lighting was perfect and the dramatic composition was powerful. The sergeant and I immediately began photographing the scene before us.

Shortly, from behind us, in loud command voice we heard, “Who the hell are you two and how did you get in here?” Please follow me, now.

He was an MP Captain. He was regular Army and he had no sense of humor.

We followed the Captain out of the tent to an area behind the processing tent.

“All right, who are you and how did you get in here?”

The sergeant explained that we were from the Oregon Army National Guard Public Affairs Detachment and assigned to the 9th Infantry PAO for Brave Shield XX. She produced a letter from the commanding general authorizing us to go anywhere throughout the exercise area and cover the various units.

The Captain carefully read the letter and then looked up, “I’m detaining the two of you here while I get verification.” With that the Captain quickly walked away. The sergeant and I looked at each other and shrugged.

A few minutes later the Captain returned with our “go anywhere” letter. The Captain cleared his throat, “OK, you two check out, but you violated the Geneva Convention by taking pictures of the prisoner. Give me your film and then get the hell out of here!”

We handed over our film and started to leave.

“One more thing,” the Captain added, “you can’t write about where this is or what you saw here. Sergeant Smith will escort you back to your Jeep.”

It was the last time that the Sergeant and I ever thought about covering a Prisoner of War Camp.