United States Disciplinary Barracks

Main gateway into the now-demolished 1877 disciplinary barracks (in 2007). The building now has other uses, including a base eatery.

Originally known as the United States Military Prison, the USDB was established by Act of Congress in 1874. Prisoners were used for the bulk of the construction, which began in 1875 and was completed in 1921. The facility was able to house up to 1,500 prisoners. From 1895 until 1903, prisoners from the USDB were used to construct the nearby United States Penitentiary, Leavenworth.[5]

The original 19th century USDB was dubbed "The Castle" or "Little Top" due to its size and location (c.1977).

The original USDB followed the Pennsylvania plan modeling on a layout of the Eastern State Penitentiary where cell blocks radiated out from a central structure. Individual cells were relatively isolated. In contrast, the civilian prison, modeled on the Auburn Correctional Facility in New York, reflected a newer concept where prisoners were housed in a large rectangular building where there was a certain amount of communal living.[6] The site covered 12 acres (4.9 ha) with walls from 16 to 41 feet (4.9 to 12.5 m) high.[7]

The original USDB was Fort Leavenworth's biggest and tallest building sited at the corner of McPherson Avenue and Scott Avenue on bluffs above the Missouri River (39°21′36.50″N 94°55′0.53″W). The old domed building was nicknamed "Little Top" in contrast to the domed federal prison 2+1⁄2 miles (4.0 km) south which was nicknamed the "Big Top".[8]

During World War I, two brothers named Joseph and Michael Hofer, died at Fort Leavenworth in 1918 after refusing to enlist or wear uniforms after they were drafted under the Selective Service Act of 1917. The pair of conscientious objectors, who were Christian Hutterites, were held in solitary confinement, beaten, and starved to death.[9]

In 1988 the prison had 1,450 prisoners, including 21 women. This included 42 officers, the highest ranking being a lieutenant colonel.[10] By 2014, all female prisoners have been moved to NAVCONBRIG Miramar.[4] That same year, an inmate named David Newman escaped after hiding in Pope Hall while on Wood Shop detail. He assembled a ladder, kicked out a window and climbed over the wall between Towers 3 and 4. He was captured four days later in Kansas City. Following the escape, bars were placed on the windows of all buildings within the complex and interior chain link with razor wire top guard was placed between the buildings and the exterior stone walls.[11] Shortly before the detention barracks closed more than 300 inmates refused lockdown on 12 May 1995. The uprising was put down by 150 correction officers.[12]

In 2002, Gail Dillon of Airman magazine wrote of the old detention barracks:

A visitor would immediately notice the medieval ambiance of this institution – the well-worn native stone and brick walls constructed by long-forgotten inmates when 'hard labor' meant exactly that – have witnessed thousands of inmates' prayers, curses, and pleas over the past 128 years" and that entering the facility was "like stepping back in time or suddenly being part of a kitschy movie set about a prison bust.[13]

In late the 1990s, work began on a new purpose-built military detention center on the site of the former USDB Farm Colony. The largest buildings of the original barracks ("The Castle") were torn down in 2004. The walls and ten of the buildings in the original location—including Pope Hall—have been converted or are in the process of being converted to other uses at Fort Leavenworth. The prison's original commandant's house still remains.[14]

The new state-of-the-art, 515-bed, disciplinary barrack, which cost $67.8 million ($99 million in 2021 dollars), became operational in September 2002. It was built about a mile north of the original USDB at Fort Leavenworth. The new 51 acres (210,000 m²) site is enclosed by two separate 14-foot (4.3 m) high fences. There are three housing units, each of which can accommodate up to 142 prisoners. The units, described as "pods", are two-tiered triangular shaped domiciles.[15] The cells in the new facility have solid doors and a window. There are no bars. The new facility is said to be much quieter than the old one and is preferred by inmates.[16] Colonel Colleen L. McGuire, the first female commandant of the USDB, said in 2002 that the new facility is "much more efficient in design and layout – much brighter and lighter."[17]

In 2009, the Barracks, along with the Standish Maximum Correctional Facility in Michigan, were being considered for relocation of 220 prisoners from the Guantanamo Bay detention camp. Kansas officials, including both U.S. Senators, objected to the transfer; Pat Roberts stated that the transfer would require 2,000 privately owned acres around the fort to be acquired through the use of eminent domain to establish a stand-off zone because the prison is on the perimeter of the fort.[18]

Prison cell

The new prison reflects current prison design of smaller low-rise separate buildings where prisoners can be more easily isolated from the general population.[6] In 2012 the facility received a 100% rating and the accolades from an assessment team from the American Correctional Association (ACA) (who have been auditing the sites since 1988). Three independent evaluators visited the prison facilities to check on more than 500 standards, including mental health services, safety issues, and other aspects of the facility related to humane treatment of inmates. The USDB received a top rating in all of the standards despite having a portion of its staffing deployed to Iraq.[19]

The USDB is staffed by the 15th Military Police Brigade. Many soldiers have a designated military occupational specialty 31E, corrections specialists. They are under Army Corrections Command, which was activated in Washington, D.C. in 2007 under the Provost Marshal General.[20]

In August 2010, two inmates overpowered an MP guard in the Special Housing Unit. They then were joined by 11 others. The guard was freed by a special tactics unit which retook control of the Special Housing Unit. Several inmates and one rescuer sustained non-life-threatening injuries in the incident. This was the first such incident in the new prison.[12]

Headstone of a German prisoner at the cemetery

Deceased prisoners who are not claimed by their family members are buried near the original USDB. There are 300 graves dating from approximately 1894 to 1957, 56 of which are unmarked and 14 that belong to German prisoners of war executed for the murder of fellow POWs. The executions were carried out in 1945, in three groups: five on 10 July, two on 14 July, and seven on 25 August.[21]

The USDB houses the U.S. military’s death row inmates who have been convicted of one or more capital offenses under the UCMJ and sentenced to death by a court-martial. All four death row inmates currently awaiting execution are former U.S. military personnel convicted of murder; however, enemy combatants who are currently being tried before a military commission at Guantanamo Bay would be transferred to USDB for execution if they are convicted and sentenced to death.[22]

Since 1945, there have been 21 executions at the USDB, including 14 German prisoners of war executed in 1945 for murder.[23] The last execution by the U.S. Military was the hanging of Army PFC John A. Bennett, on 13 April 1961, for the rape and attempted murder of an 11-year-old girl.[24] Bennett's execution took place four years after it was approved by President Dwight D. Eisenhower and then his successor President John F. Kennedy. Bennett applied to Kennedy for a Stay of Execution after an appeal to him from the Austrian victim and her parents for Bennett. This was promptly denied by the White House.[25]

All executions at the USDB thus far have been by hanging, but lethal injection has been specified as the military's current mode of execution. As of 11 July 2018, there are four inmates on death row at the USDB, the most recent addition being Nidal Hasan.

The execution of Army private Ronald A. Gray, who has been on military death row since 1988, was approved by President George W. Bush on 28 July 2008. Gray was convicted of the rape, two murders and an attempted murder of three persons, two of them Army soldiers and the third a civilian taxi driver whose body was found on the post at Fort Bragg.[26] On 26 November 2008, a federal judge granted Gray a stay of execution to allow time for further appeals.[27]

Within the prison, death row is located in an isolated corridor away from other inmates.[28]

• List of people executed by the United States military
• List of U.S. military prisons
• Penal military unit#United States

• Media related to United States Disciplinary Barracks at Wikimedia Commons