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| Operation Immersion an Eye Opening Experience for RIDOC Personnel |
| By Rhode Island Department of Corrections |
| Published: 10/21/2011 |
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CRANSTON, R.I. – Four Rhode Island Department of Corrections employees and one contract employee participated late last month in Operation Immersion, a mission designed to give attendees a sense of what military life entails. The RIDOC participants, Beth Cooke, Probation and Parole Officer in the Cranston Regional Office and a West Kingston resident; Teresa Foley of Warwick, Reentry Services Coordinator/Transitional Services; Corinne Henry Brady, Probation and Parole Officer with the Providence Superior Court Office and a Providence resident; Margaret Olivier, Warwick Probation and Parole Officer and Wakefield resident, and Jimmy Plante, a Providence Center employee who oversees mental health discharge planning, attended to gain a better sense of what RIDOC inmates and probationers who are Veterans have experienced through war and how it might be influencing their behavior. As of June 30, 2011, 43 Veteran and seven military non-Veteran inmates, and five Veteran and one military non-Veteran offenders on Home Confinement. These numbers are provided with the caveat that the data is self reported. The RIDOC is also the state’s largest employer of military personnel, so it is not only offenders but many RIDOC employees who know the challenges of returning from war. Operation Immersion was sponsored by the Rhode Island National Guard in conjunction with the Department of Behavioral Health, Developmental Disabilities and Hospitals (BHDDH) and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). Participants were asked to report to Camp Fogarty in East Greenwich at 2 p.m. on September 22nd to begin their assignments. They were then assigned to platoons and attended Military 101, where they learned about the military culture and the deployment cycle. During the course of the two-day event, participants also received training on post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injuries, substance abuse disorders, suicide prevention, and the system of care for soldiers and their families. Soldiers and their loved ones were invited to share personal stories of deployment. Participants slept in Quonset huts and were up by 5 a.m. to do physical training (PT) and chores. They were instructed in and practiced virtual shooting, as well as firing real-life M16 rifles. They were also given MRE’s or Meals Ready to Eat - soldiers’ food rations which contains about 4,000 calories each. The RIDOC participants were enthusiastic about the training and its potential impact on their work with Veterans and colleagues. Margaret Olivier stated that she now has “a better understanding of the life of a soldier, what it is like to be deployed for the soldiers and for their loved ones and the intense trauma suffered by soldiers exposed to elements of battle and how this affects them during and after deployment.” Both she and Beth Cooke were interviewed by WJAR, Channel 10, and the Warwick Beacon about their experience. Corinne Henry called the training “Fantastic!”. Teresa Foley felt the trainers “did an excellent job sensitizing social workers in the state to the needs or returning Veterans and their families.” Calling herself a pacifist, Foley says “the effects of war have to be addressed.” She now sees that with each successive deployment, returning Veterans, both those who become involved with the criminal justice system and those who have not, “need our help.” |
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