Military Corrections:
Vets Helping Vets
Mark K. Archambeau, CCE, CCM
Military personnel, regardless of rank or branch, endure several challenges when transitioning back into civilian life. Some have had minimal, if any, issues navigating the nuances that separate military life from that of the civilian sector. Others, however, struggle with making the professional, financial, and personal transitions.
Then there are those that become involved in the legal system prior to separating from the military. Some military personnel end up confined due to a court-martial after some manner of misconduct. When this happens, most of their transferrable skills become void. Additionally, those who entered the military without at minimum a high school education may find transitioning after confinement more difficult.
The Naval Consolidated Brig in Charleston, South Carolina has many programs available to aid in these issues. Education Programs Administrator Chad Earwood and Reentry Specialist Vicki McGinnis are two highly dedicated personnel who know how to address these issues.
Chad Earwood is a retired US Marine Gunnery Sergeant with over 20 years of service in military corrections, with a Master’s Degree in Education. A passionate life-long learner, Earwood actively seeks out educational opportunities for those confined in his facility. Meanwhile, Vicki McGinnis, A US Navy veteran herself, aids in providing reentry training for the prisoners. She translates the information into a manner that is easily interpreted and retained into the outside world. She works with the prisoners during the afternoons and evenings so they may still work during the day.
According to Earwood, all prisoners are tested during orientation for adult basic education. Given the volume of new prisoners, testing is conducted weekly.
Upon completion of the Test of Adult Basic English (TABE), they can enroll in a number of services, such as evening classes, college courses, and DSST/CLEP testing in our National Testing Center. Setting up this program was no easy task. Earwood worked closely with the facility’s Technical Director, Steven Laird, a retired US Marine Chief Warrant Officer 3 with over 20 years of service. The facility partnered with Thomas Edison State University and they come over twice a month to conduct the tests. Prisoners earn college credit towards a degree along with abatement days. The
evening classes provide various skill sets, such as conflict management, leadership, time management, and emotional intelligence. All of these skills can assist them in their transition to civilian life.
McGinnis teaches a seven-day Life Skills/Transition Assistance course that covers various topics including writing a viable resume, how to perform a job search, perform a career assessment to determine if there is a gap in items that might be needed in changing career fields, and how to overcome employment barriers. She teaches prisoners how to conduct a background check on themselves, interview with a felony, obtain federal bonding, get a tax credit for those employers who may hire them, and create a budget.
McGinnis creates a customized folder that contains contacts in their location areas and items that will assist them in developing their resume. This can be time-consuming, as they have to research all 50 states and US territories like Guam and Puerto Rico. The folder contains their American Job Center’s location, VA Vet Center, and temporary employment agencies. She explains to them they can see a workforce-oriented VA rep who can assist with employment and see a Career One Stop rep that can assist with unemployment if they qualify.
Earwood and McGinnis often bring in guest speakers to talk about possible VA benefits, human resources representatives to look over their resumes, and annually, they do a mass brief with a federal parole officer, Department of Labor, the American Job Center Veterans Outreach Coordinator, and Bureau of Prisons. Unfortunately, this is temporarily suspended due to COVID. These resources teach the prisoners how to use the job kiosk to research current jobs for employment prior to leaving the facility. Then, McGinnis performs a final check with the prisoners for employment to ensure the prisoners have a budget in place, SSN card, current driver’s license, a place to live and education benefits. If not, they are placed in vocational rehabilitation.
Finally, this dynamic team has a library containing 10,000 books. McGinnis ensures that it is stocked with a variety of periodicals and reentry topics to assist in the transition to civilian society. Joint Base Charleston supports the Inter-Loan library program, which averages 1,300 requests per year.
Prisoners can obtain books to a series they are reading or perhaps research books for a college paper. The base librarian comes over once a year to provide training to our staff and prisoner volunteers, which is documented to show the training was conducted. The computer lab contains Lexus Nexus, where prisoners can access the law library either in the Programs Area during the week, or in their housing units seven days a week.
In summary, it is well-known that reintegration back into the civilian world is a difficult transition for most personnel when they leave active ranks. The military’s goal is to ensure that service members return to society as productive members of their communities after their service. Given that this nation has recently exited a two-decade-long period of sustained combat operations, veterans have seen mixed results with their transitions. Some were very positive, while others entered the legal system and become incarcerated in civilian facilities around the nation. For those that get discharged after a period of confinement, it can be difficult to get started on the right foot.
This unsung dynamic team has taken on the mission to help these veterans take that first step and keep marching to avoid becoming a statistic for recidivism. For that, Mr. Earwood and Ms. McGinnis…BRAVO ZULU.
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Mark Archambeau, CCE, CCM, is the Department Operations Officer for the United States Department of the Navy at the Naval Consolidated Brig in Charleston, South Carolina. He is a dedicated security professional with extensive experience in Military Corrections, Corrections Emergency Response Teams, and as a corrections instructor. He has ACA accreditation and certification for ACA and AJA. He can be reached at m.k.archambeau@gmail.com.