service, or perhaps military combat duty. Each of these experiences can influence and in all
probability, changed one's outlook on life. This same philosophy should be applied to corrections.
The time a prisoner spends in confinement should not be just a period of punishment, or loss of
freedom, but a time in which positive influences can assist the prisoner in changing or modifying
his attitudes, thereby changing or modifying his behavior.
16. Internment Resettlement Specialists deal with individuals with individual problems; it
should always be kept in mind that there are no average prisoners, only individual prisoners. In
today's world, individuality is a major part of everyone's life. Internment Resettlement Specialists
should not fall into the trap of lumping prisoners through the impersonal use of them instead of he.
17. Prisoners are placed in confinement as punishment, not for punishment. Aside from a
death sentence, the loss of freedom is the worst punishment that can be imposed. Imposing
punishment is a function and right of the judicial system. Carrying out court-ordered confinement
is a function of the Military Police Corps. The two should not be confused. US Army Confinement
Program.
PART C US Army Confinement Program
1. The previous paragraphs have provided a general picture of how the Army correctional
program is being conducted. It is now necessary to know something about the historical
development of military confinement. In examination of the early history of military confinement,
it would be discovered that military personnel guilty of minor offenses were confined in post
guardhouses; those convicted of serious offenses were sent to central Army confinement facilities
such as Governors Island, New York; and those convicted of very serious offenses were lodged in
state-operated prisons. In some cases, even prisoners convicted of minor military offenses were
sent to state-operated prisons.
2. It was because Soldiers convicted of some minor crimes were cast into prisons with
prisoners who had committed robbery, murder, or other felonies that the Military Committee of the
House of Representatives urged and gained the passage of a bill in 1874 that established a military
prison at Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois. This prison operated until the federal prison system came
into being in 1895. The bill was amended to place the prison at Fort Leavenworth. The actions that
terminated the military prison were the government discussions, which preceded the establishment
of the federal prison system. These discussions included the military prison and gave rise to
members of the War Department and Congress noting that there were very few prisoners confined
who had committed serious offenses requiring long-term confinement. In addition, it was observed
that a large number of prisoners guilty of minor offenses were again being exposed to a small group
of bad characters. On the basis of these circumstances, the military prison idea was terminated,
causing the only military prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, along with its worst offenders, to be
transferred to the Department of Justice.
3. In 1904, the impropriety of confining military prisoners in civilian institutions was again
studied, resulting in the Army returning to prison operations on 1 February 1906, when the prison at
Fort Leavenworth was transferred back to the Army. Today, this facility gives the Army a
significant confinement and correctional capability to meet long-term confinement requirements. In
addition, the number of places that Army prisoners may be confined has been greatly increased
since 1906 and consists of both military and federal facilities.
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