A Navy chief petty officer pleaded guilty Friday to a charge of assault and battery in the beatings of two Iraqi detainees while on duty at Camp Bucca in Iraq.
Chief Petty Officer Tracy Necaise, 43, of Pensacola, also pleaded guilty to conspiracy. He was the guard duty officer at the Iraq prison camp in May.
He pleaded guilty to charges that he authorized other guards to beat up a detainee who had thrown feces on two guards and another detainee who had spit in a guard's face. He also pleaded guilty to charges that he pushed a detainee into a fence and put his foot on the head of another detainee.
Necaise said he did not remember either incident, but said he had read the testimony of others who said he had committed those acts.
"I believe I did, but I don't remember that part," he said.
Necaise, who was the top ranking sailor at the base, faces a maximum of two years confinement, loss of pay and benefits, a reduction in rank and a bad conduct discharge.
As part of a plea agreement, the Navy dropped a charge that he made false official statements.
