Giving Compass' Take:

• Ken Pinkela shares his experience of serving one year at Leavenworth prison, the nation's main military prison, and lessons he learned about the meaning of service.

• Pinkela talks about how he used his skills and rank to help others in prison, mostly by reviewing clemency letters. How can mentorship programs in prison help inmates grow? 

• Read about the impact of cutting off prison visits indefinitely. 

Before I drove into Fort Leavenworth, I was a lieutenant colonel in the Army. And within minutes, that would all be taken away from me.

In 2012, I was sentenced to serve a year at Leavenworth—the nation’s main military prison for those who serve in the Armed Forces—for exposing a first lieutenant to HIV. I’d been HIV positive for several years, with my viral load suppressed to the point where it was impossible to transmit the virus. Despite that, and other evidence in my favor, I was still charged with felony assault, willful disobedience, abusive sexual contact and conduct unbecoming an officer.

Weeks before, when the judge in my court martial found me guilty, I was on my way for a promotion to be a full colonel, the highest rank in the Army before becoming a general. In the military, rank is everything; it literally defines who you are. It defines your pay, of course, but also it tells others how to respect you.

I never pulled rank again. But I did use it to help others. Young soldiers who were applying for clemency—many of them with only a high school diploma—were trying to write essays asking for forgiveness to be let out and go home and see their families. As a senior officer, I would review clemency letters weekly. In Leavenworth, I would help the guys draft them out.

Now that I was separated from the Army, it didn’t mean the same as it did before I went in. Before, the uniform was what made my service feel meaningful. But being at Leavenworth taught me something else: I didn’t need the uniform to be of service.

Read the full article about prison helped shape the true meaning of service by Ken Pinkela at The Marshall Project.