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In 2002-2003 he
was the Superintendent of the terrorist detention facility
at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. There he designed supervised
construction of several state-of-art
facilities, namely Camp Delta, to house and maintain over
680 terrorists from forty-four
different countries. CSM VanNatta was personally requested
by name to visit Iraq twice to consult on prison operations
there. Following this tour of duty the Secretary of Defense
awarded VanNatta the Defense Superior Service Medal.
John VanNatta's civilian career is
equally impressive. He started in education teaching at the
high school level and taught at the university level in
Indiana. He entered law enforcement in Edinburg, Texas, and
was promoted up through the ranks. He started his career
with the Indiana Department of Corrections as the Assistant
Chief of Internal Affairs. He served in various key
leadership positions and earned both his Masters and
Doctorate degrees in prison operations. He served as
superintendent for several prisons in Indiana, most recently
as the superintendent of one of Indiana's largest prisons
located in Miami County, Indiana. In 1979 Mr. VanNatta was
presented the Governors Commendation by then Governor Otis
Bowen. In 1991 he received the state wide Employee of the
Month award from former Governor Evan Bayh, and then in
March 2006 Mr. VanNatta was presented the Distinguished
Hoosier Award by Governor Mitch Daniels for his exceptional
service to the state of Indiana and the Department of
Corrections.
Currently Mr. VanNatta is
still servicing our country overseas in the War
on Terror. He is with MPRI serving in
Afghanistan. Mr. VanNatta is the Director of
Detainee Operations for the United State
Government in Afghanistan. In his current role
he works directly with the United States
Military, Department of Defense, and Department
of State, and with the Afghanistan Ministry of
Defense and Ministry of Justice and the Afghan
military. He designed and implemented an
extensive training program for the Afghan
military in prison operations that enables them
to operate prisons that met international
standards. Their operation is now the benchmark
for all prisons both military and civilian in
the country.
 Mr. VanNatta intends to
return to Indiana when this mission for the
government is completed. This Distinguished
Hoosier hopes to continue to serve the citizens
of Indiana while enjoying Indiana countryside.
The
Legion of
Merit (photo left) is
one of the United States military's most
prestigious awards.
It is one of only three United States decorations to be issued as a neck award (worn around the neck), or worn pinned. The others are the Congressional Medal of Honor and the Presidents Medal of Freedom.
It is awarded for exceptionally outstanding service in performance of meritorious service to the United States. The performance must merit recognition by individuals in a key position which was performed in a clearly exceptional manner.
The Legion of Merit is worn after the Defense Superior Service Medal and before the Distinguished Flying Cross. | 
