JULY 2004

The Atterbury Job Corps Center sometimes is mistaken for a prison.  But it's easy to understand why. The Job Corps' neighbors include the fenced-in Army National Guard's Camp Atterbury, the Edinburgh Correctional Facility for men and the Atterbury Correctional Facility for women. And at the entrance to the Job Corps Center, visitors are checked in by guards.

But in fact, the Job Corps probably keeps a lot of people out of prison. The Job Corps, established in 1964 as part of President Lyndon Johnson's Great Society initiative, provides job and life skills training to students 16 to 24. It is one of 118 such Labor Department centers nationwide.  This year, the corps celebrates its 40th anniversary. To mark the occasion, the corps is planning to write its history, with input from its graduates and the community.

It is looking for stories like Willie Austin's. Austin, 27, who is Atterbury's information system specialist and president of the alumni association, came to Atterbury in 1998 from Indianapolis.  "For me, I didn't feel like I had the support of my friends and family," Austin said. "My mother was not even interested."

The move changed his life.  "I hadn't interacted with my peers much, and this was a good opportunity to do that," Austin said. "I built my self-esteem. I learned you can accomplish goals that you set for yourself."  Austin found a home.  "I had positive interaction with everybody here," Austin said. "I never went home. I had nothing to go home to."

Willie Love came to the Job Corps in the late 1980s after hopes for a college basketball scholarship faded when he broke his ankle as a high school student in Benton Harbor, Mich. Today, he is the center's standards officer, in charge of discipline.  His task includes helping the youths structure their lives, sometimes providing tough love, developing family support and, if necessary, referring students to counseling, he said. Others simply need to learn to bite their tongue, accept rules and respect authority, Love said.

Those enrolled at the center -- about 1,100 at the moment -- live in dormitories named after historical figures such as Johnson and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. There are World War II era buildings mixed in with newer buildings on the campus, which is west of Edinburgh. (A POW camp and a military hospital were located on the site during World War II.)  The program provides students with a $25 stipend every two weeks, minus taxes. After 90 days, they receive $100 for clothing. All meals, classes expenses, room and board are paid for. Also, the movies in the campus theater are free, and there are other recreational opportunities.

The value of the program is the equivalent of a $24,000 scholarship.  Transportation is provided to students who want to go home for holidays and summer vacation. Stays at Atterbury range from a few months to two years.  Jim Hemmelgarn, the center's business and community liaison, said students pay for the program through "their commitment, their time and separation from their families."  About 80 percent of the participants are high school dropouts, Hemmelgarn said. Job Corps does not take court referrals or people facing criminal charges.

The Job Corps has a zero tolerance policy for drug or criminal activity. And alcoholic beverages are not allowed on the campus.  Students need a pass to leave the campus, otherwise they are regarded as absent without leave. In addition to classes, the facility has a wellness center with doctors and nurses and a variety of construction-related shops. Unions teach some of the construction classes, Hemmelgarn said.

To graduate, students must complete vocational training and have a high school diploma or a GED, a driver's license, a job and good social skills.  While learning, the students have helped build and remodel structures on the campus, including covering metal exteriors with brick. Other students work in campus dining halls, learning culinary skills in preparation to become cooks. Some students learned how to operate heavy machinery while helping Johnson County Park staff build Lake Cottonwood, the swimming pond in the park, which abuts the rear of the Job Corps center.

Computer skills have become a necessity for all students, Hemmelgarn said.  Love has seen a change in the students over the years.  "They are more needy now," Love said. "There was an older population here then. It is younger now, and they need a lot of support. Many come from broken homes, and some kids were living on the streets before they came here."  Hemmelgarn said the corps has changed over the years as needs have changed. "Our central mission remains helping people establish careers," he said.

Austin says the public often doesn't understand what the center is or has to offer to people.  "People's perception is out of whack," Austin said. "They think it is a correctional facility. Actually it's really a great place for young people who otherwise wouldn't have anything to do with their life." (By Ronald Hawkins, Star correspondent)
Editor's Note:  The Job Corps occupies the area formerly used by Wakeman General Hospital (WW2) and the U. S. Army Hospital #8 (Korean War).  Three or four original builds remain out of 57.  The Job Corps does NOT occupy ground formerly used by the Italian/German PW Camp.

July 6, 2004 - Air National Guard ends four-day leave

WILLIAMSTOWN - Members of the West Virginia Army National Guard 146th Medical Co. Air Ambulance said a bittersweet goodbye to friends and family Monday following a four-day leave from training for deployment overseas.

Some 35 of the 135-member unit returned to the area early last week for the 4th of July weekend. The troops left June 7 to train at Camp Atterbury in Indiana. The unit is set to be deployed to Kosovo in August. (By MICHAEL ERB, Parkersburg, WV)

When Nola Riley was called to active military duty with her National Guard unit last year, she delayed her life-long dream of becoming a nurse and had to leave school only three months before graduation.

But now, a year later than she planned, Riley has completed all of her courses and will receive her diploma as a registered nurse tonight from the Christ Hospital Nursing School.  

Originally scheduled to graduate in 2003, Spc. Riley instead spent nearly six months as a combat medic with A Company of the 205th Medical Battalion of the Indiana Army National Guard in Kuwait and Iraq. She is among 129 students who will graduate today from the two-year program.

It wasn't just military service that delayed her dream of becoming a nurse. She dropped out of high school and had the first of her five children at the age of 15.

Riley, 33, who now lives in Milan, Ind., earned a general equivalency diploma in 1990, joined the National Guard unit at Camp Atterbury, Ind., and trained as a combat medic. She served until 1993 and later worked in warehouse jobs in Northern Kentucky. She started nursing school two days before the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. After the attacks, she reenlisted in the Guard and her unit was called to active duty and sent overseas in May 2003.

Riley said it was difficult serving her country and balancing family and school obligations. "I didn't want to let my military family down, but yet, I didn't want to leave nursing school. I didn't want to leave my kids," Riley said. During graduation ceremonies last year, Teresa Goodwin, executive director of the nursing school, read an e-mail that Riley had sent to her classmates. "I sure wish I could be there with you. But right now, I am needed in Kuwait to provide medical care for our troops," part of the e-mail read.

"A lot of people would've felt negative (about leaving school)," Goodwin said. "Her patriotism and commitment is admirable." Riley returned from duty in November and immediately began work at Cincinnati State Technical and Community College to help finish her nursing requirements. Shortly after, she began taking courses she needed to finish at Christ Hospital. Compared to conditions in Iraq, class has been a cinch, Riley said.

"This stuff is nothing. This stuff is controlled. You're in a controlled environment," Riley said. "Here (in the U.S.) you've got pharmacies. We didn't."In early August, Riley is scheduled to begin surgical trauma work at University Hospital. Laura Joy, one of Riley's clinical instructors at the nursing school, said it was no surprise that Riley came back from Iraq to earn her diploma. "She was bound and determined that she was going to finish," Joy said.  (By Ari Bloomekatz, Enquirer staff writer)

CAMP ATTERBURY, Ind. -- Indiana's signature military base geared up for war last year, and as thousands more troops prepare to train there, the bustling camp shows no sign of a slowdown.

The camp's transformation from yearly training center for the Indiana National Guard to major mobilization station reflects the armed forces' increased reliance on Guard soldiers and reservists. Since February 2003, Camp Atterbury has marshaled nearly 11,000 soldiers for Iraq, Afghanistan and other trouble spots.

By the end of this year, the base's commanders expect that number to approach 20,000. In the next few months, the third wave of units to go to Iraq will begin their training.

"There are very few specialties we can't take care of here," said Lt. Col. Lawrence Muncie, deputy commander of the base 25 miles south of Indianapolis. "This is the jewel of Indiana."

To adapt to realities soldiers face in Iraq and Afghanistan -- such as urban warfare and convoy attacks -- Camp Atterbury has added new training programs. It also has modernized staples such as the shooting range.

Last week, several dozen soldiers from the Afghanistan-bound 1st Battalion, 151st Infantry Regiment, walked through the "reflexive firing" range, aiming their guns at targets in a field. But as they approached the stand-ins for civilians and potential insurgents, the goal was to disarm them -- and pull the trigger only as a last resort.

"From now on, do everything right because in 30 days, you'll be in harm's way," their instructor, Capt. Greg Motz, told them. The 33-year-old guardsman works for the Evansville Police Department's SWAT team.

The new program supplements the base's regular shooting range, which is more attuned to fighting Soviets than Iraqi insurgents.

"We used to spend time firing at targets 200 to 300 meters out," said Capt. Ben Powell, the 76th Infantry Brigade's public affairs officer. "That's not realistic. We're not snipers. (Gunmen) are going to pop up behind cars."

The unit is one of several from the Indiana Guard that will travel to Afghanistan this month. Its mission is to train and support the new Afghanistan National Army.

Since the transformation began last year, Camp Atterbury has erected moveable buildings and expanded its staff to accommodate the flow of soldiers from 21 states and Puerto Rico. Of those it mobilized, about 4,800 have stopped back through the camp after finishing overseas duty.

Camp Atterbury's load has included many of the 6,500 Indiana Guard troops who have served on active duty since Sept. 11, 2001.

Before the Army granted Camp Atterbury its official designation last year, the Indiana Guard had envisioned a larger role for the base, which is five miles wide and 11 miles long. In 2002, Congress approved upgrades and a $9 million computerized battle simulation facility that now is under construction.

About a month ago, the Army granted Camp Atterbury its second extension as a mobilization base through next February. Another National Guard base, Camp Shelby near Hattiesburg, Miss., was activated by the federal government this year.

The military has not relied so heavily on Camp Atterbury since the Korean War.

Running the base is like running a small city, Muncie said. Recently, the camp hosted 4,000 soldiers, which means 4,000 beds and 12,000 meals a day.

In the past year, the base's direct economic impact on Edinburgh and other nearby towns has been $15 million in documented expenditures. And spending by soldiers at area stores and restaurants has widened the effect.

For many Hoosiers called to active duty, the most important benefit of Camp Atterbury is its proximity to home.

Sgt. Scott Hughes, 40, driver for the 76th Infantry Brigade's commander, mobilized for a peacekeeping tour in Bosnia in 2002 at Louisiana's Fort Polk. He says he much prefers Camp Atterbury this time around since it allows him to visit his wife and children more often in Fortville, east of Indianapolis.

"It's a lot better than going to another state," Hughes said. "If you get a weekend pass, you can go home."

The Associated Press contributed to this story.  Star reporter Jon Murray

July 12, 2004 - Camp Atterbury Prepares Troops for New Mission