laterwork branch allegiance unit battles rank article_title name
presiding officer lawyer united states army united states of america 173rd brigade vietnam war colonel peter brownback
 peter e. brownback iii
peter brownback

peter e. brownback iii is a retired military officer and lawyer .
he was appointed in 2004 by general john d. altenburg as a presiding officer on the guantanamo military commissions .
the washington post reported : '' ... that brownback and altenburg have known each other since 1977 , that brownback 's wife worked for altenburg , and that altenburg hosted brownback 's retirement party in 1999 . ''
brownback is also a combat veteran who served two tours in vietnam , the first as part of the 173rd brigade and later as a member of the us special forces .
he was the honour graduate of his special forces course that he completed in 1972 .
defense attorneys challenged the bias of five of the six presiding officers at the guantanamo military tribunal , including brownback .
altenburg removed three officers but retained brownback .
he was the only officer appointed to the first commission who had any legal training .
