Assigned to the Office of the Judge Advocate General and serving as a representative to the Detainee Task Force from July 2004 to June 2005, Lieutenant Colonel Jane Ellen Bagwell helped "oversee the investigations and the corrections that were being made" to military detention and interrogation policies in the wake of the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal. Among the task force's responsibilities were to view and prepare press releases, track developments in the news media, brief Army senior leadership and the U.S. Congress, and "tried to ensure that the recommendations that were made weren't just falling by the wayside as interest declined." Simultaneously, Bagwell also supervised the Continental United States support cell for the Central Criminal Court of Iraq. In this capacity, she oversaw the attorneys who were involved in tracking down and preparing witnesses, doing investigative work and oftentimes preparing entire cases against defendants charged with committing "acts against U.S. or coalition soldiers” and assorted “crimes against the peace” in Iraq. In this interview, Bagwell also discusses changes to Military Intelligence and Military Police doctrines vis-à-vis detainee issues; the importance of and what constitutes “humane treatment”; and her impressions and analysis of the Iraqi judicial and legal system. In addition, she talks about her involvement as a legal advisor to the collateral investigation of the 22 February 2002 crash of a Special Operations MH-47 Chinook helicopter in the Philippines, which resulted in the deaths of 10 U.S. soldiers.

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