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Top 10 Military Prisons In The US

Top 10 Military Prisons In The US. In this article, we have listed the top 10 military prisons in the state of the United States.

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Apr 6, 2024 • 5 min read

Top 10 Military Prisons In The US

Military prison is a prison operated by the military and used variously to house prisoners of war, unlawful combatants, those whose freedom is gauged as a national security risk by the military or federal authorities, and members of the military found guilty of a serious crime. As such, military prisons are of two types: penal, for the punishment and reform of members of the military who have committed an offense, and confinement-oriented, where captured enemy combatants and prisoners of war are confined for military reasons until hostilities cease.

The U.S. military's correspondent to the county jail is known colloquially as the guardhouse or stockade by the armed and air forces and as brig by naval and marine forces. U.S. military forces currently maintain several regional prisons in the U.S.

Top 10 U.S. Military Prisons, Brigs, & Jails

Below is a list of the most well known military prisons around the United States of America.

10. Miramar Naval Consolidated Brig

Naval Consolidated Brig, Miramar (also called NAVCONBRIG for short) is a military prison operated by the U.S. Navy at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in Miramar, San Diego, CA, just under 10 miles (16 km) north of downtown San Diego. It is one of three Navy consolidated brigs in the U.S.. It is the regional confinement facility in the Pacific area for the United States Department of Defense (DOD, DoD or USDOD).

It is also known as the Joint Regional Correctional Facility Southwest or J.R.C.F.. The 208,000-square-foot (19,300 m2) facility has a capacity of up to 400 male and/or female inmates and is staffed with 31 civilians and 173 military personnel. It is about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) from the MCAS Miramar East Gate Entrance.

9. Charleston Naval Consolidated Brig

The Naval Consolidated Brig (also called NAVCONBRIG CHASN for short), is a medium security U.S. military prison operated by the U.S. Navy. The brig, Building #3107, is situated in the south annex of Joint Base Charleston in the city of Hanahan, South Carolina.

The Brig was commissioned on 30th November 1989 and accepted its first prisoners in January 1990. It has 400 cells and can house 288 inmates. It holds felons from all branches of the US Armed Services and conducts the Navy's Violent Offender Treatment Program. It has been accredited by the American Correctional Association (ACA; called the National Prison Association before 1954) ten times: 1992 through 2019 every third year; receiving 100% compliance on each correctional standard.

The brig recently housed several captured enemy combatants, including Yasser Hamdi, José Padilla, and Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri. Al-Marri was the last of the three to remain at the brig, later being transferred to a civilian prison on pleading guilty in 2009.

8. Northwest Joint Regional Correctional Facility

Northwestern Joint Regional Correctional Facility (or NWJRCF) was a Level II correctional activity with operating facilities in Fort Lewis, Washington, and Submarine Base Bangor, Washington.

NWJRCF reports directly to the U.S. Army Corrections Command located in Alexandria, Virginia. It provides custody/control, education, and vocational opportunities as well as behavioral and mental health programs to prisoners to assist their transition back into the civilian community or return to duty. Upon order, it prepares individual soldiers to deploy and conduct full-spectrum operations.

The NWJRCF primarily consists of Army Soldiers assigned to the 508th Military Police Battalion and 42nd Military Police Brigade. These soldiers are joined by several members of the Navy that are assigned to the sub base in Bangor and serve as the liaisons for their respective service personnel imprisoned within the facility and also assist in the daily operations of the facility. The staff is rounded out by Navy Department and Army civilians.

7. Midwest Joint Regional Correctional Facility

The Midwest Joint Regional Correctional Facility (or J.R.C.F.) is a military prison located at 831 Sabalu Road, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas which opened in 2010.

The 224,736-square-foot (20,878.7 m2) prison on 45 acres (18 ha) has a capacity of 512 beds in total with 43 in special housing and the rest in general housing and dormitory. The prison houses inmates sentenced to terms of ten years or less. It also will hold prisoners who are awaiting trial.

It is one of three major federal prisons on federal land in Leavenworth, Kansas. The prison was established as part of the Base Realignment and Closure with the consolidating (and shutting down) of prisons in Lackland Air Force Base, Fort Sill, and Fort Knox.

6. USDB – Atlantic Branch

United States Disciplinary Barracks (USDB) located at Castle Williams on Governors Island in New York Harbor was the East Coast Leavenworth prison in days past. It was first used to house Confederate prisoners but after the Civil War, it was used as a low-security prison. After its reconstruction in 1915, it became a secure East coast military prison. The prison was closed in 1965.

5. USDB – Northwestern Branch

This branch was located at Fort Missoula, Montana. The site served as a prison during and after World War II. As such, it was a prison only for a short period but from what was widely believed back in the day, it was one of the hardest military prisons ever established. Fort Missoula saw a close, along with the prison in 1947 after the war saw its conclusion.

4. USDB – Pacific Branch

From the beginning of the 19th century (circa 1828) to 1933, Alcatraz Island was the site of the Pacific Branch military prison. In 1934, the island was converted into a federal prison, known as Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary. Many do not know that Alcatraz used to be a military prison. Alcatraz Island is situated in San Francisco Bay, 1.25 miles (2.01 km) offshore from San Francisco, California, United States.

The island was developed through the early and mid-19th century with facilities for a lighthouse, a military fortification, and a military prison. The strong currents around the island and cold water temperatures made escape nearly impossible, and the prison became one of the most notorious in American history believed to be inescapable.

3. United States Army Corrections Facility Europe

United States Army Regional Correctional Facility – Europe (or USARCF-E) is the only Department of Defense, Level 1 corrections facility established in the European theater and is located on the outskirts of Coleman Army Airfield near the city of Mannheim, Germany.

USACF-E falls under the 18th Military Police Brigade. At the same time, it reports directly to the U.S. Army Corrections Command in Alexandria, Virginia.

The U.S. Army Regional Correctional Facility-Europe provides level 1 pre-trial and post-trial correctional services, transfers prisoners to Contiguous United States (or CONUS) correctional facilities, and upon order provides advisory teams in support of full spectrum operations.

2. Chesapeake Naval Consolidated Brig

The Naval Consolidated Brig, Chesapeake (or NAVCONBRIG Chesapeake) or the Joint Regional Correctional Facility (J.R.C.F) Mid-Atlantic is a military prison, serving as Building 500 of the Northwest Annex of the Naval Support Activity Hampton Roads (NSA HR) located in Chesapeake, Virginia.

This Mid-Atlantic joint prison operated by the U.S. Navy is a medium security military prison. It can house approximately 400 prisoners.

1. The United States Disciplinary Barracks

The United States Disciplinary Barracks (USDB) also known simply as Leavenworth, is a military correctional facility located on Fort Leavenworth, a U.S. Army post in Kansas.

It is one of three major prisons built on Fort Leavenworth property, the other two being the federal civilian U.S. Penitentiary, Leavenworth, located four miles (6 km) to the south, and the military Midwest Joint Regional Correctional Facility, which opened on 5th October 2010.

It reports to the U.S. Army Corrections Command and its commandant usually have the rank of colonel.

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