Just as a visitor and a guard
Spent the day at the jail today. I was on the duty list to go watch a prisoner that is awaiting transportation to a confinement facility. We don't have MPs, so we use the base police department. If we have a prisoner, we have to be there in person to watch them, though. I had no idea what this would entail, so I showed up about 15 minutes early.
Turns out, I know the guy. I had no idea he was in trouble, let alone already convicted and sentenced. I don't know what he did and I didn't ask him. We weren't close or anything, but we both did morning PT for a few months, so I saw him regularly.
We didn't talk much. I was extremely uncomfortable. I did find out he's got 8 months where he's heading. The police at the station were kind of weird. One of the guys knew the prisoner and told me that he couldn't believe that he was in for what he'd done. I wasn't really comfortable talking to the cop, so I pretended to know the particulars and dodged out on the guy.
He spent most of the day sleeping. That was a relief. I had trouble just looking at him behind the bars. I got about half way through American Soldier by Tommy Franks. So far, it's an excellent read. Special thanks to SSG Geezer and Oleteach for the recommendations.
He woke up when I had about an hour left on duty. We talked a little. That's when I found out how long he'd be in jail. He told me that he'd already heard about education programs for while he was on the inside and that he might be eligible to get out early. He didn't know where he was going, but he'd been told that Ft Lewis had the regional facility and he'd probably serve his time there. We talked about past assignments and he asked about coffee. I found out from the police officer that he could have coffee but there wasn't any made at the time. He told me they'd bring him a cup as soon as the next pot was ready.
My relief showed up about 20 minutes early and I was relieved to see him. I couldn't get out of there fast enough. I just wasn't comfortable. I'd known this guy. He was a good guy, as far as I knew, and still seemed like he was. I don't know what he did, so it was hard to see him there. And yet, he had to have done something to wind up there with an 8 month sentence.