Thursday morning, news photographers were for the first time permitted to take pictures of the detainees inside their cells, distinguishable by their fluorescent orange jumpsuits, but too far away to see their features. One was being led by two MPs from a cell, presumably for a shower, latrine visit or exercise. Another was lying on his side, a towel over his head and shoulders.

"We wake them up for prayer time. We feed them their breakfast and then they have their time, " reported Sgt. Lisa Juve, 25, of Bismarck, N.D., one of 14 female soldiers who are part of a Military Police detachment from Fort Hood, Texas, which is guarding the prisoners.

Juve said she was aware that in Afghanistan Taliban militiamen covered Afghan women so she suspected that "it bugs them a little bit because I'm telling them what to do. My sole purpose in that facility is to tell them when to eat, when to go to the bathroom."

She also issues a wake-up call to Muslim prayer, by rapping on the prisoners' cells and using hand signals for those who don't appear to understand English. All of the detainees under her supervision engage in morning prayer, she said.

Soldiers assigned to the prison project said they are well aware that the detainees are suspected in the events surrounding the Sept. 11 attacks.

But several said they were instructed to stay focused on their jobs.

"Everyone thinks about that, but you can't treat them any differently, " said Juve, a 41/2-year career soldier who earns $2,180 a month. Hialeah-born Marine Pvt. Christopher Vieitez, 22, a machine gunner who patrols outside the camp, described the inmates as "just misguided people."

Asked what the United States should do with the prisoners, Vieitez replied that they should be held "until they get the idea that they're messing with an awesome force - and reap the consequences of what they do."

The son of immigrants from Cuba, Vieitez said this assignment was his first visit to his parents' homeland but he had been too busy "doing my job" to form an impression.

Asked whether he was frightened by the assignment, the former Braddock Senior High School student said, "I've been trained not to be scared."