What Happens to a Soldier in His First 24 Hours at Fort Leavenworth

What really happens to a soldier in his first 24 hours inside Fort Leavenworth? He arrives in restraints, between two 14-foot fences. Not long ago he wore staff sergeant stripes. Now he carries an 18-year sentence, and before he takes a single step inside, someone has to sign for him, the same way the Army signs for a rifle. This is the United States Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, the only maximum-security prison in the American military. In this video we follow one soldier, hour by hour, through his first day: the paperwork at the gate, the search, the clear plastic envelope that holds everything he owns, the brown uniform, the medical check, the classification that decides how he will live for years, the schedule of calls, his six-by-nine cell, his first night, and his first work call. Along the way you'll see how a general court-martial sentence takes his rank and his pay but keeps him in the Army, why sentences over ten years lead to the Disciplinary Barracks, what changed when the old "Castle" was replaced in 2002, and why the count is the one thing in a prison that never stops. Chapters: 0:00 Hook: Between Two Fences 1:13 Before the Gate 3:05 Hour 0 · Signed For 4:45 Hour 1 · Brown 5:49 Hour 3 · Measured 7:15 The Clock 8:09 Hour 8 · The Cell 9:42 Hour 12 · The First Night 11:06 Hour 24 · Work Call 12:29 Final If you want to understand how the U.S. military really works, from enlistment to the gate of Fort Leavenworth, subscribe to Under Orders. The soldier in this video is an illustrative composite, not a real person. Photos: U.S. Army / U.S. Department of Defense (public domain) and Wikimedia Commons contributors (CC BY-SA). Full credits are in the video folder. #FortLeavenworth #MilitaryPrison #USArmy #CourtMartial #UCMJ #Veterans #UnderOrders