Bethel Park District Judge Robert Wyda is packing his bags for someplace warm.

But this is not a vacation.

For the second time in three years, Judge Wyda has been called to military duty, this time in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

If this sounds like a chance to see Havana, think again.

"There is virtually no chance for a military person to leave the base [to explore Havana]," said Judge Wyda, 46, who is a commander in the Naval Reserve.

He expects to be stationed at the military prison at Guantanamo Bay naval base for one year, working on a special task force with the Navy's judicial system, the Judge Advocate General Corps.

While he is gone, his duties in the Bethel Park municipal building are likely to be handled by semiretired district judges supplied by the Allegheny County court system.

"What we generally do is rotate senior judges through an open court," said Nancy Galvach, manager of magisterial district courts.

"That is what I believe is going to happen in Judge Wyda's court. ... It is our normal practice," she said.

Judge Wyda will be part of the Defense Department's Criminal Investigation Task Force, a joint service enforcement organization that conducts worldwide investigations of people suspected of being involved in terrorism. It provides support to the Defense Department's office of military commissions to prosecute "alleged acts of terrorism and war crimes."

Judge Wyda said it is the same task force he worked on when he went to Afghanistan in 2003.

He spent five weeks in Bagram Air Base near Kabul from November to December as a military attorney investigating international terrorism cases. He was part of a task force, which was formed after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

His job involved reviewing and investigating cases. He had to write affidavits to support the detainment of those he believed should be sent to the Guantanamo Bay Detention Center, where about 500 people are detained.

Now he will be working with prisoner cases again. It will be a difficult job, but one that Judge Wyda embraces.

"It is every military lawyer's ultimate goal to be part of the military tribunal process," he said.

Judge Wyda, a former assistant district attorney who has been a district judge for six years, has been in the Naval Reserve for 20 years.

"I expect this will be my last tour of duty," he said.

His legal role with the Navy is much different from his job in Bethel Park, where he hears cases against people accused of crimes such as drunken driving, domestic abuse, littering, loitering and drugs.

As he prepares to leave for Cuba, Judge Wyda has many concerns, especially about leaving his wife, Shannon, and two children, Jared, 14, and Rachel, 11.

"I do expect that I will have some leave time," he said. "I will try to get back here."

"Two years ago, since I was on the other side of the world, that was impossible. I hope that I will be able to see my family once or twice."

First Published: January 12, 2006, 5:00 a.m.