Fort Lewis - The Investigation Continues,...
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THE TORTURE AND PROSTITUTION OF
FORT LEWIS
PART TWO
By Tom Scott
The Uniformed Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) has a regulation for every action that might be encountered by a member of the US military. There are regulations governing every aspect of military life from the time a soldier enlists until after he has left the service. The UCMJ covers not only activities for daily life, but for combat, disciplinary actions allowed by commanders, and for regulating the military prison systems. The Regional Corrections Facility at Ft. Lewis has 225 inmates, all were convicted of their crime in a military court martial; all were soldiers in the US Army. This facility is one of many in the military penal system, and there are several federal prisons which also house inmates once convicted of crimes while serving in the military. The role of the guard staff and the command, it seems, is to do everything within their power to hide the truth,not to encourage rehabilitation of the inmates. It doesn't seem to be to provide counseling for inmates who suffer from emotional or psychological disorders; inmates were told that such counseling could not be provided as the money for these programs was needed to fund the war. The role of the guard and command at the RCF seems to be to do very little to positively affect the rehabilitation of the inmates in their control and to hide that fact whenever it is brought into question. From all accounts, it seems the role of the staff is to make every effort to prevent the 507th MP Brigade from ever “looking bad,” but not by training its members to follow the rules. The command has actually instructed its unit members to say nothing, to report nothing, to talk to no one in an effort to ensure that no one ever learn of all the mistakes this unit has made because it has never been adequately trained to follow the regulations. Who is there to train them when those in command publicly state that they do not have to follow the regulations, and they do not care what the regulations say? An 18 yr old attempted suicide late last fall. He is an inmate at the Regional Corrections Facility, at Ft. Lewis, Washington. His reasons? He was overweight and ridiculed by guards and inmates alike, and the pressure of the emotional games took its toll. How could this have happened in a “Corrections facility” where the very regulations that the military uses to govern state that counselors must be in place, that inmates must be evaluated by these counselors and by the prison chaplain? It happens because for 225 inmates, there is a chaplain, a chaplain’s assistant and 2, yes TWO, counselors. One month ago a guard from the RCF at Ft. Lewis, a member of the 507th MP Brigade, died while taking a rigorous Physical Training test at 6:30 in the morning. His medical records showed that he had a heart condition, and his command was aware of this condition. Prior to being ordered to take this PT test, the guard had just served a 12 hour shift through the night on guard at the RCF. What was the command thinking? SFC Parham once served as the enlisted man in charge of the prisoners’ affairs. He has now been promoted to First Sgt. of the 507th MP Brigade. While still managing the affairs of the prisoners, SFC Parham told the prisoners that he was not going to allow them to have educational opportunities while serving time, violating their rights according to the US military regulations governing Corrections facilities. SFC Parham seemed to think that his only responsibility was to see that the inmates served their sentence, nothing more. While several inmates have repeatedly requested that they be allowed to participate in correspondence courses and distance learning programs as a way to help prepare them for making a positive contribution to their communities and for their families upon their release, none of these requests have been granted. At this CORRECTIONS facility, education doesn't matter. There is, however, a female specialist who serves her 507th MP unit by working in the Education office at the RCF, where no education programs are offered. Could it be SFC P’s solution for seeing that this Specialist’s behavior does not cast a bad light on her unit? By assigning this female soldier to duty as the non-existent education facilitator, she has very little contact with the inmates. Wise move by the man in charge of prisoner affairs, in light of the fact that this female was caught on more than one occasion giving out specialist favors on the back steps. Heaven forbid – we certainly don't want this unit to look bad. There are several inmates who have written to their congressional representatives regarding abuses they have faced at the hands of the command at this RCF who does not think the UCMJ matters. When the military liaisons of these Congressional offices write inquiries to the facility, they get responses. The responses say that the inmates and their family members are lying, that they are making the stories up. The command responds with half-truths, and the actions they take at the RCF are clearly meant to prevent anyone from ever being able to learn the truth. Inmates are required to submit requests for actions, including calls to their attorneys, calls to their congressional representatives, visits from family members, visits to support groups, and chaplains – all requests must be submitted on forms that go through the RCF counseling office. There is no written documentation of any of these requests until the counseling office completes one of these forms. Inmates can request a form from the counseling office for days before one is given. There is NO documentation of these verbal requests, so the command conveniently gives the appearance that the inmates never really try to seek help. Isn’t it time for the command to tell the truth? Inmates are given Disciplinary and Adjustment statements for every action the guard and command believe goes against the “authority” they demand. D and A statements are filed for not standing properly, not speaking properly, not looking in the right direction – and, yes, some are given for valid reasons, most inmates have committed crimes, and many do require disciplinary action. Who sees that the command receives disciplinary action for their violations?? Warden Ennice Hobbes is one of three personnel who sit on the D and A Board to determine the disciplinary action to be given for infractions. Mr. Hobbes is a civilian and inmates have submitted statements addressing the fact that he has signed many of the D and A decisions as the President of this board. The regulations for Military Corrections require that the President of the board be a member of the military, E-8 or above.(DOD 190-47, pg. 73, Ch. 12, para. 2) Those responsible for providing the proper support to inmates who are at a facility so that their actions are “corrected” and they may return as productive members of society, ARE NOT FOLLOWING THE LAWS. Who cares? SFC "CD" is now the NCO responsible for prisoner concerns at the RCF. He has made it clear that he does not care about the regulations; “what I say, goes.” There is a group of 20+ inmates now being confined to a single bay (Echo Bay) for disciplinary restriction, as ordered by the D and A Board on which Mr. Hobbes served in violation of the rules. These inmates are spending their days doing absolutely nothing – most for 30 days or more. What exactly will this correct? The regulations state that commanders will not use mail as a disciplinary measure.(DOD 190-47, pg. 69, Ch. 12, para. 4) SFC "CD" doesn’t care. The inmates in the Loss of Privilege Bay are not allowed telephones, television, magazines, books – they cannot play games, there is no exercise, and no time outside. They cannot write letters, they cannot receive mail – a violation of the regulations. WHO CARES? A guard at the RCF witnessed a case of physical assault by another guard on one of the inmates. This inmate listed the guard as a witness to the offense, but when it was time for her to make a statement, she would not. After the D and A Board had assigned a disciplinary action against the inmate, the guard told him that she did not make a statement on his behalf because the command told her that to do so would make their unit look bad. Of significance in this situation is the fact that the inmate was assaulted as a result of his going to the block guard commander as the respresentative of his block to complain about a XXX-rated movie being shown in the bay, the choice of the guards. It seems that greater moral character was displayed by the married inmates who requested not to have such a movie shown, while the guards, part of the unit that, according to regulations, was to ensure rehabilitation and promote positive moral growth in these inmates before releasing them back to their communities, actually assaulted an inmate for voicing his complaint about such a movie and refused to turn the movie off. There is another guard from this facility who was caught at home, by his wife, in relations with another woman, a female guard, also at the RCF. Angry at being caught, this man physically assaulted his wife. The county sheriff’s office transported this man to the MP Brigade to which he was assigned. They assured the sheriff’s office that they would handle it. The guards both were given time off until things cooled down. Nothing more was done. WHO CARES? What makes Americans believe that we should be out saving the world? What makes Americans believe that we must look to Iraq, Iran, India, Afghanistan, Cuba, Venezuela, and a host of other countries to find human rights abuses to confront, and violations of the rules of law to set straight? Why are we spending money on global peace conferences, and human rights events? The issues presented here are just the tip of the iceberg – an iceberg that exists in our own house. America – WHEN WILL YOU ACTUALLY CARE? |
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We realize that there are good commanders in the US military who do command with integrity and self-discipline, looking out for the best interests of their soldiers first. We realize that what Kevin has faced in the past three years is not the leadership that all soldiers serve under. But - it is the command that Kevin has had, and it is THIS command that has lost sight of the fact that the soldiers who have volunteered to serve their country are human beings first.
I would welcome the opportunity to speak to Mr. Scott regarding what I know about the conditions the inmates live with at the RCF if he would be interested in contacting me. (Comment this)
alot of your information is incorrect, i am a former guard at the RCF, and alot of what your writing is false, although i will give you credit on the meat and potatoes of the story (Comment this)
I had previously commented on the fourth comment, and it suddenly was dissappeaared. First, the beforementioned Soldier who passed, was not taking a rigourous p.t. test. he was on a normal self paced run, he may of been puttting out a maximum effort, but it was not a test. Second, there is no such thing as the 507th, both items incorrect. (Comment this)
As far as the issues addressed in this article, documented evidence has been forwarded to two congressional offices and investigations have been initiated into all claims, in addition to many others not mentioned in this article. The military IG's office as well as the congressional military liason are involved. It would seem best to allow those investigations to proceed. Several members of the chain of command at various levels have faced consequences as a result of these investigations and others initiated since.
Regardless of one's personal beliefs regarding the validity of this Iraq war, one must recognize that soldiers at all duty stations, including MP's in US Military Prisons, face serious emotional and physical stress resulting from repeated and extended deployments to Iraq.
It is time to stop the divisiveness when it comes to issues involving the soldiers - all soldiers. We need to work together to see that those who make the greatest sacrifice of any American citizens in this country receive the respect they deserve not only from the American public but also from their chain of command. The guard who died on a "routine run" here did not need to die -- the Sgt. who died on a field training exercise at Ft. Hood did not need to die. Proper attention to the needs of our active duty military and veterans should be paramount to all other considerations.
Monica Benderman (Comment this)