The U.S.D.B.

Fort Leavenworth’s History

The prison’s construction was started in the late 1800s and continued on until the United States Military Prison was somewhat completed in 1921, by mostly inmate labor.  This is because other parts and shops continued to be built. On September 2002, the current United States Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth was completed. Soon prisoners were transferred to the new 515 bed facility in the spring of 2003.  

The old “DB” or “The Castle” as it was nicknamed, had deteriorated significantly.  Prisoners often mentioned how the ceiling and roof debris would randomly fall onto unsuspected inmates and guards. Many prisoners spoke about the DB as a real prison with a feeling of nostalgia.  They would brag about the good times and how they would get away with so much in there.  Female prisoners were also housed in the DB and inmates had the opportunity to have sex with each other during church Sundays.  All these stories are second-hand or more told to me or overheard during my 4 years at the new facility. An attempted rape of an abusive guard had happened. Supposedly this guard got too big for his britches and over time the inmate retaliated out of vengeance and humiliation, of which the guard spewed out first. Having a male inmate sex slave was also more common in the old DB and they were able to make shanks (make-shift knives) and tattoo guns for tatting yourself and others.

Before the new facility started operations, the DB had to transfer prisoners, the United States Military made a deal with the Federal Bureau of Prisons to accept military prisoners.  The military inmates had exhausted their court appeals and most had been incarcerated for 15 years or more.  The most violent went first. Many inmates fought tooth and nail to stay in the UCMJ system and some cried, what had been told to me. The old DB sounded depressing to me and medieval.  

A few escapes happened and I found one on the internet, but it was a short-lived escape like many, but there was a story that a few inmates did make it out and stayed out.  I heard that the 1 or 2 escapees would send letters to the commandants teasing that they were unable to catch them.  I sort of give it some credence because the old DB was hu and it was easier to get in good with the guards.  Less cameras and also the cameras were fuzzy with white fuzz, I was told. Unlike the new facility with state-of-the-art surveillance cameras and in all crevices, but there were never enough guards to watch them all.  And I don’t know how long the devices kept their records, I am guessing up to a year at least. 

As I heard these stories, I felt lucky I didn’t have to experience that hell hole.  Summers were hot with no air conditioning and winters were cold.  One story I had heard, if you were downstairs in the hole, the inmates placed their faces onto the toilet and flushed to receive some reprieve from the suffocating heat. I recall that beautiful March day that I arrived, with plenty of sunshine to leave no prison Pod dark.  It was nice actually then and in hindsight compared to state prisons, but most wouldn’t understand this mindset.  

The new facility was brand spanking new and very clean. The whole area wasn’t very big but enough for us not to become crazily bored. It had 6 pods that housed about 60 inmates in each. There were 4 levels of security.  There was the SHU the Special Housing Unit, that housed Death row and men in the hole for prison infractions.  Medium security was for new-comers and long timers, then you had minimum security, which was not much different than Medium no extra privileges. except able to watch tv for an hour longer during the nights.  Then you had extra minimum and Trustee.  Extra minimum you could sleep with your door open, no lockdowns, and watch tv 24 hrs. a day if you wanted.  Trustees lived outside the walls and wore blue uniforms.  They could come and go with only 1 guard throughout the day.  They were able to have CD players and more types of foods than the other inmates. Being a trustee was like being a semi free man with more dignity.  

My Story

Foreword

It’s the last week of February and my court martial and 6 months of pre-trial confinement ordeal was finally over.  My verdict and sentence had been given and I could relax psychologically. This story will be told from the day of my sentencing until I am freed from incarceration 4 years later.  My court martial trial lasted 3 days.  I was an enlisted with a bachelor’s degree and had chosen an all officer panel to decide my fate.  Going judge alone with a liberal known judge would have been detrimental for my life. If I had not worked for attorneys for 3 years, I would have been very ignorant of the law and had been lied to.  I guarantee it! Prosecution and Defense attorneys shared and disclosed privileged information.  Attorney client privilege?  What is that?  If you are an officer then you are given the Golden Parachute.  Discovery is discovery but exculpatory discovery seemed to be a common practice to be withheld to help the government, so it wouldn’t look bad (always political). Lots of inmates complained of this and many were fighting for lighter sentences or cases to be overturned. Military men and women are to uphold and protect democracy, but not allowed to practice it.  “untold silent rule.”

Introduction

Hello, fellow veterans and active duty members

My whole purpose of this blog is to open peoples’ eyes and minds on how the United States Uniform Code of Military Justice works or doesn’t work for us members. My webpage needs work and I hope a writer/editor would be interested in writing a book about this little known topic and share it with the outside world. This story starts from the bottom up. The latest part is placed on top, but the beginning is at the bottom of this site. Thank you for your understanding and support.

President Trump is the first president to step in for United States services members, since Nixon, also maybe a death sentence was commuted by another. You can look up that story online, at your fingertips. As a veteran, President Trump hit a homerun against the status quo of politics rule over the human suffering of its own military members, the USCMJ is always used to the fullest extent to protect itself from scrutiny. This enables the government to place all the blame on its members with impunity.

Our current president pardoned two junior officers and one enlisted non-commissioned officer, due to alleged prosecutorial misconduct and withholding exculpatory evidence. Fortunate for me it didn’t occur during my situation. I can only guess that this was a huge morale boost for military members of the United States armed forces, except for the political appointees and high end officers. Trump for the time being has put them on notice.

The United States Code of Military Justice has 3 types of court-martials. They are summary, special, and general. General court-martials are no joke while the others are peanuts and could be considered gifts for some soldiers to get out of dodge with slaps on the cheeks. From my experience and knowledge the following court-martials are like this:

Summary: Article 15 with deduction of pay for 2 months, 45 days extra duty, and possibility of loss of one rank.

Special Court-martial: Loss of rank(s), pay reduction, and prison time which is usually 6 years or less

General: all the above to include the Death Penalty

In some cases a service member can be placed back into active duty after he/she completes their sentence. The President of the United States is the Commander- in -Chief and is the final say!

I was convicted of a crime, when an abusive mouth sergeant saw it, his mission to ruin my military career. In the end we both ended up out of the service for different reasons. You can guess why I was discharged, but for him it was a forced medical reason after the incident. I still believe in the rule of law and I did my time. I still love my country and what it stands for. We need to stand up for our constitutional oath and defend our great republic against domestic and foreign enemies.