As requested by this thread. I work in the military’s only maximum security prison. My responsibilities include conducting an initial mental heath assessment and a risk assessment for new inmates sentenced to the USDB. As per my leadership, there are two types of questions I cannot answer:
Specific information about an inmate. (If you ask me is PVT Snuffy inside my prison, I cannot answer that)
Details about the facility. (I am not going to tell anyone how high the fences are, or what time is shift change.)
Other than that, ask away. The people that are sentenced to the USDB are all Servicemembers at the time of their confinement. The sentences that I work with are from five years to death sentence inmates. The inmates with less than a five year sentence are confined to a regional facility.
So, you’re a mental health specialist by trade, right? Did you just get assigned there at random, or is it one of those things you have to volunteer and be selected for?
Most of the mental health specialists I work with sort of got drafted to work at the USDB. I requested the assignment. I have wanted to work with new inmates at a maximum security prison since I can remember. I think Johny Cash or Elwood Blues had something to do with that.
First , probably more of a history question , but I remember growing up, there were quite a few military prisons. leavenworth being the most famous, but also Portsmouth Naval prison and of course LBJ in Vietnam. Did the corrections facilitys get downsized, with the reduction in forces ?
Second, I imagine that you probably seen the movie, the last castle. How many things were wrong with that film, and did they get anything right.
The Castle is right up the street from where the new USDB is. I have not seen the movie, but I have talked to some inmates who swear they were the inspiration for the film. The prison today is much more modern without bars to the cells, but steel doors. If you came in through the front and did not look around until you were inside, you would think you were in a hospital.
There are still a lot of regional confinement facilities. Korea, Germany, Ft. Lewis in Washington State, and Charleston, South Carolina all have facilities for those who are sentenced to less than five years. There is also a confinement facility at Ft Leavenworth. It is new (well opened in the last five years.) The USDB used to house those sentenced to anything from one day to Life without Parole. Someone in Congress figured that was a bad idea and more of the JRCF’s (Joint Regional Confinement Facilities) were created, such as the one at Ft Leavenworth, or at Ft Lewis.
We have a few Air Force personnel in the mental health section. We are part of the Directorate of Treatment Program (DTP) which includes the physical health section. We can do lab work as needed and X-rays. There is also a dentist two days a week. If an inmate has a need that cannot be met by the clinic, there is a full service clinic on post. For the most part, the doctor will come from the clinic to the inmate. Sometimes the inmate will be taken to the outside facility. We have even had some inmates go to an area hospital if the need arises.
The female inmates go to San Diego, IIRC. We house only males. Everyone confined in my facility is reduced in rank, generally to E-1, the lowest enlisted rank. However, you do not have rank when you are in confinement. We do have some officers who think they can still wear their rank even though they are confined. (Sort of like Col Hogan in Hogan’s Heroes) It doesn’t happen. The former Officers are housed the same as the former Enlisted. They are all referred to as “Inmate SoandSo”
What happens to inmates that get out? Do they still get any retirement benefits, GI Bill access, etc.? Do the inmates seem to still act ‘military’ (if that makes sense) or they act like inmates at any other prison?
One, rather morbid question, first; what are the most common reasons for confinement in your prison? I’d guess you’ve got more towards the five year end of the scale than the death end. Secondly, are there any very general similarities between the inmates (other than their service, obviously), or do you have a psychologically very diverse population?
Excuse my ignorance, but I guess that is what this thread is for!
If a military person commits a crime, do they go to military prison? What if the crime is a ‘civil’ crime rather than a ‘military’ crime, do they still go to military prison or do they go to a state prison?
I’ll add to this: when their term of service is up, do they have the chance to transfer to a civilian jail, or do they have to remain in a military jail? I’m guessing the latter if you deal with lifers. If so, has the legality of remaining under military jurisdiction even when ‘officially’ a civilian ever been challenged?
Different country, but an anecdote from my brother Ed’s military service. It was at the tail end of the Spanish draft: full service time for drafted men was under one year. Draftees were always assigned within their military region, but those are bigger than the civilian ones; Ed was in Saragossa and there were a lot of guys from Barcelona in the same group. Midsummer celebrations are huge in Barcelona but almost nonexistant in Saragossa; the Barcelona guys were surprised they wouldn’t get the day off* and wanted to go see the Captain and tell him they were just taking it, ok? The other recruits and a couple of noncoms sat them down and explained, very slowly, that if ten guys go see the Captain and inform him that they’re going AWOL, under the Spanish military code that counts as a mutiny and they would have been in for a 9 months’ minimum sentence - which was three months more than what was left in their service period.
And yes, they would have had to fulfill it completely, and in a military prison.
No, they weren’t very smart. A couple of them had gotten to Basic without acceptable ID, been sent back home to get it, which of course delayed their in-processing by a couple of days, and thus they’d had to spend their first weekend in military jail for “failure to appear”. Note that in Spain you’re supposed to have such ID on you at all times or be able to produce it within the time needed to go home/the hotel and grab it.
Are there a lot of inmates? I know this may be crazy, but I wouldn’t think there would be a lot of crimes in the military that call for max security. Then again, the day that I was flying out of Turkey, one of the MPs was escorting a soldier who hit his buddy over the head with a bottle of Jack Daniels. So yeah, that kind of stuff happens, I guess.
What’s the general demeanor of the inmates? Are they all tough and hard on each other like the sterotypical prison, or do they just kind of sit there all day?
Have you ever seen The Package? One of my favorites from the early 90s, but is very outdated now.
The prison today is much more modern without bars to the cells, but steel doors. If you came in through the front and did not look around until you were inside, you would think you were in a hospital.