During his 38-year military career, Major General John Hussey (Retired) has published several articles pertaining to detention operations and rule of law operations, but earlier this year he published his first book on the subject of handling captured and surrendered enemies. “Inside the Wire: Guarding America’s Enemy Prisoners in the Global War on Terror from Abu Ghraib to Guantanamo Bay” also details Hussey’s rise through the ranks and his career in the military.

The 30-year former Cornwall resident, who now resides in South Carolina, enlisted in the Marine Corps in June 1984 following the attack on Lebanon on Oct. 23, 1983, and seeing all the wounded Marines. After speaking with friends and mentors, Hussey felt the urge to serve and give back to his country. Two years later he was transferred to the Army National Guard and in 1988 he completed the Officer Candidate School and branched as a Military Police Officer. In 1997, Hussey joined the Army Reserve, where he continued his career which culminated with his taking command, in 2019, of the 200th Military Police Command, located at Fort Meade, Md.

During his career, Hussey served in Desert Storm, Iraq, Afghanistan, Abu Ghraib, and Guantanamo Bay.

Hussey has a PhD in Criminal Justice and has earned five Master’s Degrees, including one in Strategic Studies from the U.S. Army War College. He retired from his civilian career after 34 years of service, culminating as a chief clerk in the Unified Court System of New York State.

For a long period, Hussey contemplated writing a book after several people suggested he should, but he was always so busy. Following his retirement, Hussey found he had more time on his hands, so early last year he started to write.

“Every veteran has stories to tell,” Hussey said. “Some are more exciting than mine, but I think I have a unique story. Detention operations became the center of focus for the US after the scandal in Abu Ghraib. I was sent there with my unit right after that. We were the first unit after the scandal was reported. I did that operation in Desert Storm, I did it in Afghanistan, I did it in Guantanamo Bay. When you think about Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay, they’re internationally known. It’s a unique story to talk about detention operations and my experiences, but the last two chapters I try to teach future generations about how difficult this mission is and give them some tidbits in case somebody finds themself in my situation and has to go to a foreign land and deal with detention operations.”

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus invited Hussey to speak to other county executives about leadership in crises. Earlier this year, Neuhaus launched his Leadership Series which seeks to bring together established and emerging leaders from diverse organizations in Orange County to promote leadership and professional development, as well as networking to advance and enhance the community. Hussey was again invited to speak. Leadership is another subject which he touches upon in the book.

Although much of the book recalls Hussey’s personal experiences, he also bounced ideas off other people and conducted additional research, especially for the last chapter which focuses on why detention operations are so hard. Part of this came from a previously written article, “Detention Operations is a Strategic Concern,” which appeared in Joint Forces Quarterly.

“Senior level diplomats and four-star generals need to be concerned about this because we lost our international standing in Abu Ghraib,” Hussey said. “It’s not just run by young troops and captains. It has a strategic implication with international ramifications if it’s not done correctly.”

Hussey said this was evident in the Korean War when President Truman extended the battle because many Chinese and North Koreans didn’t want to be repatriated back and he refused to send them home. Incidents like that, Hussey said, became international embarrassments. He said he didn’t learn about what happened in Korea until later in his career. This is why it’s important to record such incidents so future generations can learn from them.

Writing the book was a long process, especially when it took the Pentagon four months to review it. Although Hussey received permission to include names in the book, military officials felt it best to leave one out thinking it might be a security violation in case the person is targeted in the future. Aware the book might contain classified information, Hussey said he wrote about some situations which might be embarrassing to some soldiers, but he purposely left those names out in the original draft. He did leave in the names of those who deserved praise. In the end, the Pentagon wanted Hussey to remove one name, but he was eventually allowed to keep a photo of soldiers which the Department of Defense had previously used on the internet.

Overall, the book took about nine months to a year to write, and it was finally released on Amazon in early September.

“It’s a sense of accomplishment,” Hussey said. “I wanted America to know what their troops do. They should be proud. It’s not an easy mission. A lot of people, even the military, don’t understand how complex it is. That’s one of the reasons I write. It has international ramifications.”

Hussey is going to wait and see how his first book sells before contemplating a second. He said his editor cut so much he probably has enough for another one on leadership.