Corrections and Detention Specialist

The 31E Corrections and Detention Specialist, formerly titled Internment/Resettlement Specialist, is the Army's military corrections professional. The job runs detention and confinement facility operations, custody and control of military prisoners and detainees, behavioral management, transport and search procedures, and the day-to-day work of professional corrections inside DoD facilities. Train at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, through the U.S. Army Military Police School. The pipeline runs about 10 weeks of Basic Combat Training followed by roughly 8 weeks of AIT focused on corrections operations, use-of-force protocols, riot control, restraint techniques, and detention facility procedures.

If you served as a 31E, your day-to-day work was professional corrections. You ran cell blocks, managed populations, processed intakes and releases, conducted contraband searches, controlled movement, de-escalated incidents, and documented everything to a legal standard that holds up in court-martial and federal review. Some 31Es work at the Joint Regional Correctional Facilities, some at the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, and others rotate into theater detainee operations supporting expeditionary missions. The skill set is the same skill set the Federal Bureau of Prisons, the U.S. Marshals Service, ICE, state DOCs, and large detention contractors hire for every day.

Civilian employers value 31Es because the training maps to professional corrections almost 1:1. The American Correctional Association standards that govern federal and state facilities cover the same operational categories you ran in service: classification, security, custody, programs, food service oversight, sanitation, healthcare coordination, and use-of-force review. You already speak that language. Whether you want to stay in corrections or pivot into broader law enforcement, federal LE, or security operations, your 31E background is one of the most directly translatable MOS codes in the Army for civilian government work. See the 31B Military Police and 31D CID Special Agent pages for related Army law enforcement paths, or use the military-to-civilian career crosswalk to compare options across branches.

When I separated from the Navy I spent 18 months applying with no callbacks, and 31Es face a similar problem. Military corrections work translates straight into federal corrections (BOP, USMS), state corrections, civilian detention contractors, and federal LE. But the old title "Internment/Resettlement Specialist" on a resume reads as undefined to civilian recruiters who never served. The translation is what wins callbacks, not the experience. Federal LE actively recruits 31Es when the resume reframes the work as professional corrections experience. — Brad Tachi, Navy Diver veteran & BMR founder

The most direct civilian path for a 31E is professional corrections. The Bureau of Labor Statistics tracks Correctional Officers and Jailers (33-3012.00) at a median wage near $53,290 in May 2024, with federal corrections officers earning notably more than the national median. State and local corrections salaries vary heavily by region, with California, New York, New Jersey, and Massachusetts paying the highest figures. Geography matters in this field. A federal facility in a rural Pennsylvania or West Virginia town will pay less in absolute dollars but more in cost-of-living-adjusted terms than a county jail in coastal California.

Beyond direct corrections, 31Es have several adjacent civilian paths. Police and sheriff patrol officers (33-3051.00) earned a median of $66,020 per BLS OEWS May 2024. Detectives and criminal investigators (33-3021.00) earned a median of $91,100. First-line supervisors of police and detectives (33-1012.00) earned $98,760. The Bailiff role (33-3011.00) is a common stepping stone for 31Es who want courtroom or court-services work. For 31Es who liked the security side of corrections more than the detainee-management side, security guards and gambling surveillance officer supervisors (33-9032) and broader physical security roles are open paths.

Private detention contractors are a sizable employer for separating 31Es. CoreCivic and GEO Group operate federal contract facilities that hire correctional officers, captains, and shift supervisors. Akima and Constellis run federal LE training and security contracts where 31E experience reads as direct credit. Defense contractors like KBR, V2X, and Amentum have detainee operations and security contracts overseas where prior 31E experience is a differentiator. For broader career options outside corrections, see the Navy MA Master-at-Arms and Marine Corps 5811 Military Police transition pages, which share many of the same private sector targets. The military-to-civilian salary guide walks through how to price your experience in private sector roles. When your resume is ready, build it with BMR to get the corrections language framed for civilian recruiters.

Federal corrections is the highest-fit federal path for separating 31Es. The Federal Bureau of Prisons hires Correctional Officers under GS-0007 at the GS-05 to GS-08 grade range for line officers, with Lieutenants and Captains at GS-09 to GS-12. BOP runs more than 120 federal facilities and has standing hiring authority that prioritizes veterans. Apply through USAJobs under the BOP correctional officer announcements, which cycle frequently across regions.

The U.S. Marshals Service hires Detention Enforcement Officers and Deputy U.S. Marshals under GS-1801 General Inspection/Investigation/Enforcement and GS-1811 Criminal Investigator. The DEO role at GS-05 to GS-09 is a direct match for 31E experience. Deputy U.S. Marshal positions at GS-07 entry require the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) basic program but accept 31E custody and control experience as qualifying background. ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations hires Deportation Officers and Detention and Deportation Officers under the same series.

Beyond federal corrections and federal LE, 31E experience qualifies you for GS-0083 Police (federal police across DoD installations, VA Police, federal protective service), GS-0085 Security Guard, GS-0080 Security Administration, GS-0301 Miscellaneous Administration and Program for facility administration roles, and GS-0132 Intelligence for federal corrections intelligence and gang intelligence positions. Veterans' Preference applies to all federal corrections and LE positions. With 5 points for non-disabled veterans and 10 points for disabled veterans, the points often determine who gets the call when announcements close. For federal resume specifics, the MP to law enforcement resume guide covers how to write the GS-style work history federal HR uses to score qualifications. Use the federal resume builder to format your work history correctly, or start your federal resume now.

If you're staying in corrections, federal LE, or detention contracting, your 31E terminology already maps to your target employers. BOP officers, USMS deputies, ICE detention staff, and CoreCivic shift supervisors all know what custody and control means, what a use-of-force continuum is, and what ACA-equivalent standards look like. You don't need to translate. This section is for 31Es targeting careers OUTSIDE corrections and law enforcement, where civilian recruiters do not know the language.

The translation framework is simple. Your work was professional operations management inside a high-risk environment with strict legal compliance requirements. Reframe the work as operations, compliance, risk management, behavioral de-escalation, and shift leadership.

• Internment/Resettlement Operations becomes Detention Facility Operations or Secure Facility Operations Management.
• Custody and Control becomes Population Management and Behavioral Compliance.
• Use-of-Force Continuum becomes Risk-Tiered Response Protocol for non-LE audiences.
• Shift Sergeant becomes Operations Shift Lead or Shift Supervisor for civilian roles.
• Detainee Movement becomes Controlled Population Transfer or Secure Transport Operations.
• Cell Block becomes Housing Unit or Operational Zone.
• Contraband Interdiction becomes Compliance Inspection or Security Screening.

Resume bullet example, before and after for a project coordinator or operations role. Before: "Served as Shift Sergeant for 200-bed internment facility, supervising 8 soldiers conducting custody and control operations and use-of-force responses." After: "Led 8-person operations team on rotating shifts at a 200-bed secure facility. Owned compliance inspections, behavioral de-escalation responses, and incident documentation. Maintained zero policy violations across 14 months of operations."

For more translation patterns, see the 50 military terms translated to civilian language glossary. The military resume builder handles the translation automatically when you select corrections or LE as your target field, or start a translated resume now.