Page 10 - Nellis Creech NTTR Bullseye, Feb. 3 2017

10 February 3, 2017 www.aerotechnews.com/nellisafb
By senior Airman Rachel Loftis
99th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nev.—The 799th Security Force Squadron at Creech Air Force Base, Nevada, is currently in- volved in a cooperative agreement and community outreach program with The State of Nevada Department of Correc- tions (NDOC), Three Lakes Valley Boot Camp (TLVBC).
The program or “boot camp” is six months long and if an inmate successfully completes the program they may have their felony reduced to a gross misde- meanor or even expunged.
“The inmates from TLVBC perform no cost manual labor to assist the 799th SFS in maintaining ranges and military operations in urban terrain (MOUT) vil- lage,” said Capt. Chad, 799th SFS director of operations, “In turn, we provide general mentorship and motivational briefings at the conclusion of the day.”
According to David Gonzales, NDOC corrections officer, the program is no easy task. The participants are up at 4 a.m. ev-
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799th SFS mentors inmates through outreach program
U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Rachel Loftis
A Three Lakes Valley Boot Camp inmate shakes the hand of Tech. Sgt. Gerald, 799th Security Forces Squadron member, after a mentor session near Creech Air Force Base, Nev., Jan. 13. The boot camp is six months long and if the inmate successfully completes the program they may have their felony reduced to a gross misdemeanor or even expunged.
thanks to the once a month mentor ses- sions the NDOC conducts in partnership with the 799th SFS, many of the partici- pants are looking to enlist in a branch of the military service,
“This program gave me a little bit more insight on life,” said Dionne, TLVBC inmate, “I feel that I can ac- complish more and it gave me a sense of accomplishment and pride. The (mentor- ship sessions) taught me to give a little bit more effort and try harder and in turn it gave me more knowledge.
“All the things they have taught have opened more doors that I never would have thought of. If I can, I want to enlist in the military. I haven’t quite narrowed down what I want to do because I like culinary, so I want to be a cook, but then I also want to be a mechanic or do infantry.”
For Chad, he truly believes this is a great story to tell.
“Most of these inmates come from broken homes and never really had any type of positive role models in their life,” said Chad. “Many have expressed inter- est in joining the military during the mentorship sessions and one inmate that graduated the boot camp recently left for basic training.”
The 799th SFS has already conducted four range clean up and mentorship ses- sions along with two PT sessions, all with great success.
ery day and participate in physical fitness sessions three times a day.
“The inmates will get sentenced by their judges for 190 days of physical fit- ness, so when they get to our institution their days start pretty much when boots are on deck.” said Gonzales. “They get a haircut and their initial fitness testing just to see where they are at, so they do push- ups, sit-ups, a two-mile run and pull ups.”
When the participants arrive at the boot camp they get four short days to learn the basic commands, such as facing movements and vocal commands.
“Some of the commands are; when we say ‘ears’ they say ‘open.’ This is so I know they are listening. When I say ‘open’, they say ’click’ so I know they are watching,” said Gonzalez.
Rigorous physical demands aside,
Three Lakes Valley Boot Camp inmates perform manual labor near Creech Air Force Base, Nev., Jan. 13. The 799th Security Force Squadron at Creech AFB is currently involved in a cooperative agreement and community outreach program with The State of Nevada Department of Corrections, Three Lakes Valley Boot Camp where inmates perform no cost manual labor and in return the 799th SFS provides mentorship and motivational briefings.
U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Rachel Loftis
U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Rachel Loftis
A Three Lakes Valley Boot Camp inmate performs manual labor near Creech Air Force Base, Nev., Jan. 13. The 799th Security Forces Squadron and the State of Nevada Department of Corrections, TLVBC have a cooperative agreement/outreach program and has already conducted four range clean up and mentorship sessions along with two PT sessions.