After precisely 30 months of incarceration, Texarkana welcomed me to another chapter in my prison saga. Having left Oklahoma City after 3 very long, grueling weeks, I laid afoot in the prison camp, my newest temporary-home. What the heck is a “Texarkana”? I semi-mistakenly thought it was a tri-regional name like DelMarVa, which describes an Eastern Shore portion of Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia; respectively, I thought it was Texas, Arkansas, and Kansas (I was very geographically wrong about Kansas). Interestingly, Texarkana is actually a dual-city: the city center resides in both Tex(as) and Arkan(sas); hence, the city’s name and not regional name. Actually, the region is known as ArkLaTex for the three states of Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas. Hopefully throughout this journey through three prisons, they saved the best for last…I think Texans would unanimously concur. Although I cannot declare the camp at Texarkana to be better than Morgantown (at this time), I am finding my groove and very excited to begin the end of my incarceration.
After departing Oklahoma City and swinging through federal prisons in Fort Worth and Seagoville (both in Texas), the unseasonably scorching sun was a wonderful reunion on my skin, since I hadn’t been outside in over three weeks. Upon arrival at the new prison, I was escorted through the Low-Security section, where inmates are still “behind the fence” or encaged. This area of the process is the “receiving and discharge” department, all inmates have to go through R&D in order to enter or leave a federal institution. This standard processing requires anyone new to the institution to complete paperwork, meet with a medical professional and an administrator in the camp, and once again, have the standard visual inspection (get naked, do some odd yoga poses and slip into a green, oversized jump suit). In federal prisons, the colors of clothes represents the type of security level. For camps, forest green is the standard color; tan for lows and mediums, and USP has an assortment; and the common orange color for those in solitary confinement or specialized housing unit.
Upon being cleared from R&D, I was directed to exit of the prison, and a white government van was waiting to shuttle me to the camp section. After a five minute bumpy ride, I arrived! Of course when new guys arrive, all the other campers must stand around to check ’em out, like a passing circus side-show. I was handed a mesh bag with the toiletries, sheets, and mattress. Then, I was assigned a bunk where I could drop everything off. Finally, new green clothes were sized and fitted along with t-shirts, boxers, socks, and boots. Until my belongings are received from Morgantown (which could take weeks), these are the only items that I will have.
So far, the food has been exceptionally tasty and well-portioned. The facilities do not compare to Morgantown since this camp shares a campus with the low-prison, called an FCI. For the most part, the camp is an X with four wings of housing. Each wing has 18 individual rooms to be shared between 2 to 5 guys. I share my room with two other guys, who are very laid back. In the center of the X is where the officer station is located, usually just one officer on duty for about 200 guys. The tiny library, visitation room, two TV rooms, one-chair barbershop, and dining hall are all located in the building too. It’s quaint, but the guys are respectful of each other’s space.
The landscape of the area has a very Mid-Western feel: a bit hilly, lush trees, green grass, lots of farms. Like my poor assumption about its name, I assumed Texarkana would be drier with tumble weeds and cactus sprouting from barren soil. We have a large baseball field with a graveled track in one area, a very nice, paved basketball court, and a workout pavilion with actual weights and 2 outdoor televisions. The weather has been exceptionally hot and muggy in the 90s during the day and 70s at night. Each wing of the dorm is air-conditioned, which they keep nice and cold to make the heat tolerable. I’ll certainly write more about this new experience, first impressions, and some comparisons between the two camps that I’ve been to. I really appreciate you taking the time over these many, many months to continue to share your support and encouragement, which really makes the prison experience somewhat tolerable. I hope you have a wonderful week and continue to be mindful for those little miracles 🙂