While the war in Iraq carries on, leaving destruction in its wake, some corrections practitioners have put their jobs in the United States on hold to help rebuild a war-torn country.  Mark Saunders, Warden of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction's Correctional Reception Center in Orient, Ohio is one example of an American corrections professional who is currently in Iraq, working the Iraqi Correctional Services to create a sound correctional system there.

Recently, Saunders shared with The Corrections Connection his experience in Iraq and how it has affected him professionally and personally.

Q: What made you decide to leave Ohio and go to Iraq?

Saunders: It's funny, but it was never a decision for me.  In fact, I was never really asked.  I was notified by my friend Jim Gondles that he submitted my name to go, Ohio director Reggie Wilkinson gave it his blessing, and, well, here I am.  I considered this a service to our country and democracy in general, and would not have considered declining.  The many fine young men and women of our military never got the choice of whether or not to come here, and it would have been hard for me to look in the mirror everyday knowing that I was not willing to do my part.  I know that sounds a bit dramatic, but that's how I feel.

Q: Where are you located in Iraq?

Saunders: The Corrections Team is currently located in Baghdad, at a hotel compound.  It would not be prudent of me to give the actual name of the hotel, but we are surrounded by a fairly secure perimeter and have our own team of Kurdish security guards.  They have proven their worth, as five of them perished while foiling a suicide car bomber outside of the perimeter of our former hotel compound.

Q: At what prison, working in what capacity?

Saunders: I am working primarily at the Rusafa prison complex as the warden.  Rusafa is the reception center for the Baghdad region prisons and the transportation hub, as well.  We also are the creators and keepers of the Iraqi Correctional Service detainee database.

Q: How long have you been there?

Saunders: I have been in Iraq since March 24, 2004.

Q: When do you expect to return? 

Saunders: I have given the mission a one-year commitment, and that time frame is as accurate as I can project at this point.

Q: How does working at a prison in Iraq compare to working in a U.S. prison?

Saunders: The Iraq prisons differ immensely from American prisons.  Our standards of prison sanitation and prisoner rights are new concepts to them.  This system is not yet a year old, so the tried and true methods that we all inherited when we started in the business simply do not exist in this system.  The brave Iraqis that are leading this system will be known as the founding fathers of the Iraqi Corrections Service.

Q: Can you describe the situation there?

Saunders: Although there are still some hostilities, they are largely unsuccessful ventures.  The great majority of the Iraqis, including the prisoners, are looking forward to a free and peaceful Iraq with a participatory and representative government.  Many of the insurgents are foreign mercenaries, if you will, and commit their atrocities for money or bounty.  They do not care about the Iraqi people, which detracts from the efforts of those Iraqis who are working towards and supporting a free Iraq.  Children wave happily when troops go through their neighborhoods.  The people are inconvenienced by some things, but give them credit...they are well aware that drastic change does not come easily.  The polls taken and news stories publicized are extremely misrepresentative of the average Iraqi.  (much like the polls taken in America, no one here knows anyone who was polled.)   Because there are a few insurgents in many areas of the country, it is just safer for Iraqis to say they are unhappy with coalition forces.  They run no risk to their personal safety with that response.  To vocally support the coalition could make them and their families targets.  I recall a story a [while] ago after the coalition forces put out flyers advertising the "guns-for-cash" program.  On camera, the Iraqis tore up the flyers and acted as if we were crazy for asking them to help the coalition by turning weapons over.  That was the safe thing to say to a television camera.  However, when the depots opened, the weapons came in, serious weapons, like RPGs, mortars, etc.  It is frustrating to see the media ignore the reality.  I guess it is possible that they don't get close enough to the common Iraqi to know the reality, but that wouldn't say much for their skills as journalists.

Q: What are some of your day-to-day activities and tasks? 

Saunders: We usually begin our day around 0545 hours and get back to the compound between 1730-1900 hours.  Some evenings there are wardens' meetings or other meetings, and we generally must use that time to communicate about whatever is on the front burner at the time.  Our communications while at our works sites is limited.  We travel in a secure and escorted manner.  At the prison, I meet every morning with the transportation coordinator and the Iraqi warden.  Although they are all well intentioned and very committed to their duties, they lack experience and basic correctional knowledge.  The senior warden at Rusafa was a corrections officer just one year ago.  Under Saddam, Iraq didn't really have a corrections system, they just had places to keep people until they were executed or while they were being tortured.  Correctional philosophies and practices are literally brand new to this culture.  I spend a significant portion of every day talking to Iraqi administrators about very basic correctional issues.  For example, bed space is at a premium while the Iraqis are building and remodeling their prisons.  Just recently, two high-ranking Iraqi administrators closed two cell blocks and were going to convert them to storage areas.  When questioned about it, they felt very strongly that the supplies needed the room much more than the inmates did.  I spent the better part of a morning convincing them that our first job is to house people in a safe and humane manner, and storage comes somewhere down the list after security, medical care, feeding, and sanitation.  The team members assigned to the Rusafa complex are skilled trainers and administrators, and they spend their days initiating internal systems in the prison and training the line staff and supervisors, while many days actually running the prison, as is sometimes necessary.  It is humbling for me to work with such brilliant folk.

Q: What challenges have you faced there? 

Saunders: The cultural differences and inexperience of the staff have been the biggest obstacles thus far.  While American prisons demand that staff keep a professional distance from inmates, here the cultural customs are not dismissed even though one person is a corrections officer and the other is a detainee.  It is very common to see officers kissing and holding hands with detainees, customary behavior among Iraqi men.  The fact that their keys or other equipment may be compromised while they are engaging an inmate is a secondary concern to them, if a concern at all.  Only the higher-level supervisors seem to understand the danger that some of the cultural customs pose to the staff and the prison.  Even the staff that have worked in a prison system before have never worked in a professional correctional environment.  They don't understand the importance of square footage requirements for living space, recreation, satisfactory food quality, availability of water, and sanitation of the living areas, to name just a few things.  So, beyond teaching them how to supervise inmates, how to control keys, how to search cells, and other basic correctional tasks, we also have to explain to them at a very fundamental level how and why these things are important.  Because it represents such a change in the way they have previously thought about prisons, it generally takes several encounters with each person to get the point across.  That's what we do every day.

Q: What has your group accomplished since you have been there? 

Saunders: Disturbances were very common when we first hit the ground.  Today, a disturbance is an unusual occurrence.  Attention to basic security practices and the basic human needs of the inmates is the difference.  The sanitation of the prison is vastly improved.  We instituted a daily cell cleaning and grounds cleaning program that they have embraced.  We no longer have to tell them to do the cleaning, only encourage them when they get a little sloppy about it.  There was no key or lock control when we came, and now they have a system similar to many in the United States.  Personal property is well controlled now, and every detainee has prison -issued clothing.  The officers are in uniform, including ICS (Iraqi Correctional Services) patches and matching shoes.  Before we got them in uniform, we never knew what to expect them to show up to work wearing.  Prisoner treatment is vastly improved.  The only methods they knew about inmate treatment were those employed by Saddam from the past 35 years.  There are so many things different that it is difficult to remember them all.  I'm writing a book just so that I will not ever forget the many details of this experience.

Q: How have your experiences working in American corrections helped you in your endeavor there?

Saunders: American prisons, especially those in Ohio, are the standard for the world.  My exposure to great leaders, such as those in Ohio, and my association with the best correctional professional organizations, like ACA, NAAWS, NABCJ, CEA, and others, helped prepare me for this mission.  Although we are a long way from meeting ACA standards and rising to the stated level of ACA policies, they are the point on the horizon that I use for my reference.  We are meeting the international standards for prisons, which I believe is an important achievement, but they are minimum standards, and I don't believe that the dedicated Iraqi leaders will settle for the minimum. 

Q: What have you gained personally from your time in Iraq?

Saunders: I have made many friends of both American advisors, especially those on the Rusafa team, and of the Iraqis.   I have also gained a greater appreciation for those close to me at home, like my fiance' Angie. 

Q: What have you gained professionally? 

Saunders: Although we talk about it a lot at home, never have I had the message of flexibility hit home like it has here.  There are, in fact, many ways to do good things.  The Iraqi ways will work, and I have had to learn to let them accomplish the objectives their own ways whenever possible.  It creates the buy-in that is an absolute necessity if anything is to be successful in this culture.

Q: Will you return to your position as warden when you get back? 

Saunders: Absolutely.  I have the best job in the world, next to Tiger Woods and Jim Tressel.  Being a warden in Ohio is a great thing to wake up to every day.