thedrifter
09-20-05, 12:35 PM
September 26, 2005
Unruly troops do time in Kuwait prison
After those detained for misconduct are released, it’s back to combat zone
By Matthew Cox
Times staff writer
CAMP ARIFJAN, Kuwait — “What are they going to do — send me to Iraq?”
The smirking rhetorical question is as popular among rebellious combat soldiers today as its precursor was during the Vietnam War.
Spoken by troublemakers when reminded that their actions amounted to misconduct for which they could be punished, the rejoinder essentially said: “I’m in a war zone; no discipline could be worse than this, so go ahead — bust me.”
These soldiers, however, may not realize the Army runs a lockup here designed just for people like them. Moreover, after doing their time, they likely will be sent back to their unit still in the combat zone.
So, yes, they are going to send you to Iraq — again.
“We are in the business of rehabilitation and making a better person … through strict discipline, mental-health counseling and respect in a basic training environment,” said Maj. Angel Martinez, commander of the Camp Arifjan Theater Field Detention Facility.
This tiny, sun-baked compound has received little media attention.
A Marine Corps Times reporter and photographer recently were granted permission to tour the facility, but were prohibited from taking pictures inside.
For the most part, the inmates who are sent to the camp just need a bit of straightening out, Martinez said.
“The majority of the soldiers that we see are good soldiers that have made simple mistakes,” he said.
Most soldiers are sent here for infractions such as being absent without leave or violating General Order No. 1 — which prohibits drinking alcohol on deployment, Martinez said.
“These are soldiers that aren’t hardened criminals,” he said. “The prisoners who come down here don’t give us any trouble.”
Martinez did say, however, that the return-to-duty inmates who are sent here normally are not first-time offenders.
“It’s a serious thing to put someone in confinement,” Martinez said.
The facility is designed to give commanders another option for dealing with repeat offenders.
A step up from tents
The facility opened in April and is an improvement over the original camp the Army set up in summer 2003 in the Kuwaiti desert, Martinez said.
“It was four or five GP Medium tents surrounded by concertina wire, he said. “It really wasn’t a facility.”
Martinez and about 30 soldiers from the 535th Military Police Battalion, a North Carolina Reserve unit out of Raleigh, assumed command of the camp a year ago, on Sept. 17, 2004.
Martinez would not comment on the number of soldiers who have served time here or how many are currently locked up, although a tote board on Aug. 22 listed 44 inmates.
Martinez did say that about 5 percent of inmates are awaiting trial and about 35 percent are waiting to be transferred to more permanent detention centers in Europe or the United States. Some of these inmates can end up staying in the facility for a year or longer.
But the majority of the camp’s inmates — about 60 percent — are on “return-to-duty” status and stay a maximum of 30 days before rejoining their units in Iraq.
Most soldiers sent to serve time here can expect a month of being treated like basic trainees. They are allowed few freedoms and very little privacy during the regimented 16-hour days here.
The Army runs the camp, but any member of U.S. military operating in the U.S. Central Command can do time here. The Army is scheduled to transfer authority of the facility to the Navy in November.
The detention facility is roughly the size of football field. It’s surrounded by a tall chain-link fence, topped with concertina wire. Two guard towers sit at each end.
Inside, there are about a half-dozen Army GP Medium tents, a plywood phone center, a small morale, welfare and recreation tent, a dining facility tent and a containerized shower and latrine — all arranged in a horseshoe along the security fence. A mailbox sits in the center of the compound’s gravel-covered ground.
Anger management classes
New prisoners are given an initial mental-health screening and those who need it can attend classes such as those on anger management and coping with anxiety, said Staff Sgt. Charles West, the facility’s mental-health specialist.
For most inmates, there are no cells. They live in air-conditioned tents, surrounded by concertina wire. They sleep on bunk beds and are allowed only a small, plywood footlocker.
Inmates wear either desert camouflage or the Army physical fitness uniform. They are segregated by gender.
“We don’t want the males and the females even looking at each other,” said Sgt. 1st Class Richard Wilson, the facilities administrator.
High-risk inmates who are to transfer to more permanent detention facilities also live separately from the rest. they are confined to custom-built, steel cages and are allowed out for only 30 minutes a day. the four, 8-foot-cubed cages are made of steel screen grid panels and kept inside a single air-conditioned tent.
“These cages are better than the ones” at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Martinez said. Inside each cage, there is a bunk and a stainless-steel sink with a matching toilet attached.
A regimented day
A typical day for most inmates begins at 4:45 a.m. and ends with lights out at 9:45 p.m.
Mornings begin with physical training, six days a week. PT is followed by morning inspections of personal appearance and living spaces.
Those who pass inspection are allowed to participate in work details on Arifjan, Martinez said, which range from sandbag filling to carpentry to painting.
Roll-call formations are held at least four times a day to ensure that everyone is present.
Inmates eat three meals a day inside the camp’s dining tent. The food comes from the dining facility on Arifjan.
“The prisoners get the same food as you and I would,” Martinez said.
The detention facility has its own shower unit and latrine. Each inmate has 20 minutes a day for personal hygiene.
Inmates also are allowed recreation time each evening in the MWR tent. There is a small selection of weights and dumbbells, a television and DVD player and a locker full of paperback books.
Inmates also are allowed to make calls from a plywood building that has four lines. Recreation time can be taken away for minor disciplinary infractions, Martinez said.
For serious conduct violations, such as fighting, inmates can be confined inside one of the two rooms in the disciplinary segregation trailer, where each 8-foot by 10-foot room has only a mattress and bed linens on the floor.
Those inmates are allowed outside to shower, use the latrine and eat. They also have the option to make a phone call.
The camp is a great place for inmates to kick the smoking habit because tobacco products are not allowed. In fact, inmates have the option to go on a nicotine patch program, Martinez said.
As for the soldiers who run the facility, it’s no easy job.
The MPs work 12-hour shifts in addition to the 30 minutes of training on guard procedures that are required before and after each shift.
“We are doing the job no one wants to do,” Martinez said. “It’s something you don’t want to talk about, but it has to be done.”
Matthew Cox covers the Army
Ellie
Unruly troops do time in Kuwait prison
After those detained for misconduct are released, it’s back to combat zone
By Matthew Cox
Times staff writer
CAMP ARIFJAN, Kuwait — “What are they going to do — send me to Iraq?”
The smirking rhetorical question is as popular among rebellious combat soldiers today as its precursor was during the Vietnam War.
Spoken by troublemakers when reminded that their actions amounted to misconduct for which they could be punished, the rejoinder essentially said: “I’m in a war zone; no discipline could be worse than this, so go ahead — bust me.”
These soldiers, however, may not realize the Army runs a lockup here designed just for people like them. Moreover, after doing their time, they likely will be sent back to their unit still in the combat zone.
So, yes, they are going to send you to Iraq — again.
“We are in the business of rehabilitation and making a better person … through strict discipline, mental-health counseling and respect in a basic training environment,” said Maj. Angel Martinez, commander of the Camp Arifjan Theater Field Detention Facility.
This tiny, sun-baked compound has received little media attention.
A Marine Corps Times reporter and photographer recently were granted permission to tour the facility, but were prohibited from taking pictures inside.
For the most part, the inmates who are sent to the camp just need a bit of straightening out, Martinez said.
“The majority of the soldiers that we see are good soldiers that have made simple mistakes,” he said.
Most soldiers are sent here for infractions such as being absent without leave or violating General Order No. 1 — which prohibits drinking alcohol on deployment, Martinez said.
“These are soldiers that aren’t hardened criminals,” he said. “The prisoners who come down here don’t give us any trouble.”
Martinez did say, however, that the return-to-duty inmates who are sent here normally are not first-time offenders.
“It’s a serious thing to put someone in confinement,” Martinez said.
The facility is designed to give commanders another option for dealing with repeat offenders.
A step up from tents
The facility opened in April and is an improvement over the original camp the Army set up in summer 2003 in the Kuwaiti desert, Martinez said.
“It was four or five GP Medium tents surrounded by concertina wire, he said. “It really wasn’t a facility.”
Martinez and about 30 soldiers from the 535th Military Police Battalion, a North Carolina Reserve unit out of Raleigh, assumed command of the camp a year ago, on Sept. 17, 2004.
Martinez would not comment on the number of soldiers who have served time here or how many are currently locked up, although a tote board on Aug. 22 listed 44 inmates.
Martinez did say that about 5 percent of inmates are awaiting trial and about 35 percent are waiting to be transferred to more permanent detention centers in Europe or the United States. Some of these inmates can end up staying in the facility for a year or longer.
But the majority of the camp’s inmates — about 60 percent — are on “return-to-duty” status and stay a maximum of 30 days before rejoining their units in Iraq.
Most soldiers sent to serve time here can expect a month of being treated like basic trainees. They are allowed few freedoms and very little privacy during the regimented 16-hour days here.
The Army runs the camp, but any member of U.S. military operating in the U.S. Central Command can do time here. The Army is scheduled to transfer authority of the facility to the Navy in November.
The detention facility is roughly the size of football field. It’s surrounded by a tall chain-link fence, topped with concertina wire. Two guard towers sit at each end.
Inside, there are about a half-dozen Army GP Medium tents, a plywood phone center, a small morale, welfare and recreation tent, a dining facility tent and a containerized shower and latrine — all arranged in a horseshoe along the security fence. A mailbox sits in the center of the compound’s gravel-covered ground.
Anger management classes
New prisoners are given an initial mental-health screening and those who need it can attend classes such as those on anger management and coping with anxiety, said Staff Sgt. Charles West, the facility’s mental-health specialist.
For most inmates, there are no cells. They live in air-conditioned tents, surrounded by concertina wire. They sleep on bunk beds and are allowed only a small, plywood footlocker.
Inmates wear either desert camouflage or the Army physical fitness uniform. They are segregated by gender.
“We don’t want the males and the females even looking at each other,” said Sgt. 1st Class Richard Wilson, the facilities administrator.
High-risk inmates who are to transfer to more permanent detention facilities also live separately from the rest. they are confined to custom-built, steel cages and are allowed out for only 30 minutes a day. the four, 8-foot-cubed cages are made of steel screen grid panels and kept inside a single air-conditioned tent.
“These cages are better than the ones” at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Martinez said. Inside each cage, there is a bunk and a stainless-steel sink with a matching toilet attached.
A regimented day
A typical day for most inmates begins at 4:45 a.m. and ends with lights out at 9:45 p.m.
Mornings begin with physical training, six days a week. PT is followed by morning inspections of personal appearance and living spaces.
Those who pass inspection are allowed to participate in work details on Arifjan, Martinez said, which range from sandbag filling to carpentry to painting.
Roll-call formations are held at least four times a day to ensure that everyone is present.
Inmates eat three meals a day inside the camp’s dining tent. The food comes from the dining facility on Arifjan.
“The prisoners get the same food as you and I would,” Martinez said.
The detention facility has its own shower unit and latrine. Each inmate has 20 minutes a day for personal hygiene.
Inmates also are allowed recreation time each evening in the MWR tent. There is a small selection of weights and dumbbells, a television and DVD player and a locker full of paperback books.
Inmates also are allowed to make calls from a plywood building that has four lines. Recreation time can be taken away for minor disciplinary infractions, Martinez said.
For serious conduct violations, such as fighting, inmates can be confined inside one of the two rooms in the disciplinary segregation trailer, where each 8-foot by 10-foot room has only a mattress and bed linens on the floor.
Those inmates are allowed outside to shower, use the latrine and eat. They also have the option to make a phone call.
The camp is a great place for inmates to kick the smoking habit because tobacco products are not allowed. In fact, inmates have the option to go on a nicotine patch program, Martinez said.
As for the soldiers who run the facility, it’s no easy job.
The MPs work 12-hour shifts in addition to the 30 minutes of training on guard procedures that are required before and after each shift.
“We are doing the job no one wants to do,” Martinez said. “It’s something you don’t want to talk about, but it has to be done.”
Matthew Cox covers the Army
Ellie