Dirk Padgett is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 lawyer and officer in the United States Navy Reserve

United States Navy Reserve

The United States Navy Reserve, until 2005 known as the United States Naval Reserve, is the Reserve Component of the United States Navy...

's Judge Advocate corp.
Padgett is notable for his appointment to serve as a prosecutor for a Guantanamo military commission

Guantanamo military commission

The Guantanamo military commissions are military tribunals created by the Military Commissions Act of 2006 for prosecuting detainees held in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps.- History :...

.

In civilian life Padgett is a Prosecutor in Bedford County

Bedford County, Virginia

As of the census of 2000, there were 60,371 people, 23,838 households, and 18,164 families residing in the county. The population density was 80 people per square mile . There were 26,841 housing units at an average density of 36 per square mile...

 Virginia

Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

.
He was hired as the Assistant Commonwealth Attorney for Bedford County in late 1995.
He was recalled to serve a hitch of active duty in Iraq

Iraq

Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....

 on October 14, 2004.

On January 5, 2005 the Roanoke Times published an op-ed by Padgett, entitled ""Beware uninformed blathering about Iraq from the safety of home".
Padgett, then a Lieutenant Commander

Lieutenant Commander

Lieutenant Commander is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander...

 serving in Iraq

Iraq

Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....

, was critical of civilians at home who criticized the conduct of the war, without ever experiencing military service.

Carol Rosenberg

Carol Rosenberg

Carol Rosenberg is a senior journalist, currently with the McClatchy News Service.Rosenberg works at the Miami Herald, which has provided extensive coverage of the operation of the Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba.-Biography:...

, writing in the Lakeland Ledger, on July 15, 2009, described the Military Commission's new electronic audio management system malfunctioning when Commander Padgett tried to make his opening remarks.
According to Rosenberg Padgett requested a delay, while the Obama administration reviewed the military commission system.