Discipline
is a cornerstone of the military. If a person has a discipline problem
that can be fixed, an option is to send him or her to the Defence Force
Correctional Establishment (DFCE) for retraining. Chances are that person
will benefit both professionally and personally.
Most of DFCE’s successful rehabilitation is hidden behind a smokescreen
of half-truths, exaggerations and myths. The unsensational fact is that
DFCE is continuing a long Australian tradition of rehabilitation over
punishment which began in the first AIF detention barracks that opened
on November 1, 1917, at the former civil prison in Lewes, Essex, UK.
Today the
ADF has 33 detention facilities and one corrective detention centre
– DFCE, at Holsworthy, Sydney. The role of the DFCE is to hold and provide
correctional training of Service Persons Under Sentence (SUS) and the
holding of Service Personnel Under Arrest (SUA) temporarily committed
for safekeeping.
A SUS can
be held for up to two years, although it is rare for anyone to be held
longer than three months. SUA are held pending the laying of charges
or awaiting a hearing, a trial by a service tribunal, or confirmation
of a sentence of detention or imprisonment awarded by a service tribunal.
The longest
detention on record is 270 days, but the average detention is 14-16
days.
Single-service
legal funds cover the cost of sending a member to DFCE.
The current
DFCE complex opened in April 1992 after a major rebuild, has 26 purpose-built
cells and can hold 22 detainees at any one time.
The complex
consists of two cell blocks, each containing 13 cells with one cell
being converted into a shower block for women. The end cell of each
block is set aside for segregated confinement, with one cell being padded.
All members
of the tri-service staff at DFCE undertake a four-day Detention Centre
Supervisors Course followed by further training as directed. Commanding
Officer DFCE Lieutenant Colonel Cheryl Pearce said the old image of
staff at DFCE being prison guards was a misunderstanding of their role
and aim.
“The staff
here are instructors, not guards. It is detention and there is still
the element of punishment, however the punishment isn’t about being
blasted by staff with excess PT and drill. It is about ensuring detainees
meet the minimum standard required of the ADF,” LTCOL Pearce said.
She said
the focus was on rehabilitation rather than punishment.
“We retrain
them to Defence standards and instil the values, ethos and ethics required
in the ADF so we can send them back to their units retrained and ready
to soldier on,” she said. “We employ individual case management, utilising
a wide range of professional agencies to assist with the detainees’
issues/problems. This enables DFCE to address the cause rather than
the effect of the offence and assist in their training for return to
their unit.”
The individual
case management doesn’t stop the day the detainee is released back to
his or her unit as a post-detention report will be written and a thorough
follow-up procedure implemented.
LTCOL
Pearce said closed-circuit TV enabled supervisors to monitor detainees
24-hours a day and the layout of the cells had been standardised to
meet with best practice.
You
have to think how you can manage people to get the best out of them.
You’re managing the person as opposed to just making them do something
to correct them.
Officer
in Charge DFCE Major Phil Chapman said DFCE was under more scrutiny
than its civilian counterparts so staff worked harder to maintain the
highest standards.
“We have
the three services looking at us plus ADFHQ, all of whom are very conscious
about detention and how we do it,” MAJ Chapman said.
“The nature
of correction becomes a science for us because we’re working with the
psyche of people.
“You have
to think how you can manage people to get the best out of them. You’re
managing the person as opposed to just making them do something to correct
them.”
On arrival
at DFCE, detainees’ documentation is processed in the reception area.
From there, they are marched to a search area where they are searched
along with their personal kit, which is then removed from them. They
are issued their DFCE kit, which includes a uniform of khaki drill.
Detainees
can telephone their next of kin within the first 24-hours of their arrival
but from then on can only make one call a week.
Once processed,
they are placed in the observation cells for 48 hours. After that they
are transferred to Stage 1, indicated by their red shoulder tabs, where
they will stay if their sentence is less than 14 days. For a sentence
longer than 14 days, and on passing their mandatory requirements, the
detainees will progress to Stage 2, replacing their red tabs with blue
ones. Detainees sentenced for longer detention move to Stage 3 and wear
yellow tabs.
After reading
and signing an acknowledgement of DFCE standing orders, detainees start
training within a strict timetable. A typical day begins at 0530 hours
with a shave and shower in the immaculately clean amenities.
Breakfast,
as with all meals, is prepared off site and fuels the detainees for
their morning routine of cleaning tasks, kit inspections and allocated
tasks or training around DFCE.
Training
involves drill, weapons, first aid and preparation of an hour-long military
history presentation. Detainees have access to a library and classroom
where they can use a PC to enhance their presentation.
After lunch,
more training or tasks are allocated, before the daily PT lesson supervised
by a PTI at the outdoor DFCE gym. Detainees get to use free weights,
rowing and running machines.
“It’s a
standard PT lesson, not a punishment. If the detainees want to work
harder they load up the weights,” LTCOL Pearce said.
After PT,
the detainees’ shower and wait for dinner, then prepare for the evening
inspection. If they pass the evening inspection and complete any additional
tasks as directed by staff, they attend the recreation parade.
Recreation
parade is a one-and-a-half hour privilege where detainees watch news
and current affairs programs or read a book.
Detainees
who have earned the privilege have access to the Holsworthy “fat truck”
where staff purchases cigarettes and confectionery on their behalf.
Smokers, permitted four cigarettes a day, stand on a red line in silence
and smoke.
A big adjustment
for detainees is the enforced lights out at 2000 hours which provides
plenty of time for a long, hard think.
Key
to learning about the law
 |
|
The
keys, held by Sergeant Richard Neal, are ceremonial but can act
as a back-up to the automatic cell doors. Photo by CPL Belinda
Mepham
|
AN
average of 10 per cent of detainees at the Defence Force Correctional
Establishment are from the Air Force.
When
they arrive, one of the staff members they will meet is Sergeant Richard
Neal, who is on a two-year posting to DFCE.
“It’s a good working atmosphere for the tri-service staff
but I would like to project a bit more Air Force culture in to DFCE,”
SGT Neal said.
“Personally I believe there is a different ethos between the three
services when it comes to law and discipline but I don’t think
either one has it right or wrong.
“I have aspirations of being a WOD, so this will give a solid grounding
in the law and how different aspects of the law are perceived.
“It certainly is an eye opener working with the other services
– it’s a different lifestyle.”
He said the job was teaching him much about himself and his own discipline.
“I’ve spent five years as a ‘drilly’, so I would
say to any MSI or ex-GSI if they wanted something different for a couple
of years then this would be an ideal posting. ”
– CPL Sean Burton
‘It
taught me a lot’
A
former detainee sentenced to 14 days at the Defence Force Correctional
Establishment for being AWOL and intoxicated on duty said his two weeks
of retraining was beneficial from a personal perspective.
“There was a lot of character building. Things like shouting the
request sequences for permission to move about the place – you
get the confidence to call it out loudly and fluently,” he said.
“People think you go there to get broken down and humiliated, but
you don’t. You come out with pride and confidence in yourself that
you can do whatever you put your mind to.
“It’s a learning thing. Once you have been taught everything
they want you to do, you sign the standing orders.
“Then you’re duty bound to do the right thing so you just
do what you’re told and get on with it.
“I have learnt a lot down there, you’re treated well, the
food was great and the PT was good.”
He said initially he found the short, sharp shock similar to recruit
training.
“The inspections were hard, as well as getting used to the routines
and learning the time management skills.
“I learnt a lot about myself and respect for other people, but
now I think it’s more of a deterrent for me personally – I
don’t want to go back there,” he said.
– CPL Sean Burton
