Beyond the Badge, Jobs, Training and Facilities

CDCR Unlocked podcast: Veterans Day special

November 14, 2024

In the latest installment of CDCR Unlocked, correctional sergeants William Bartow and Jose Andrade discuss military veterans.

Andrade served eight-and-a-half years in the US Army. While in basic training, he learned everyone had the same core job.

“It didn’t matter what your job was. No matter what you pick, at the end of the day, you’re a soldier. You’ll always be a soldier,” he recalls. “That’s your primary job.”

Andrade was 18 when he joined the military. Growing up in a small California town, reporting to boot camp on the opposite coast was a bit of a culture shock.

“I love my military and love my country. I would do it all over again if I had the choice.”
Sgt. Jose Andrade

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“The farthest I ever went was probably about two towns over. I’m a young kid, never really traveled on my own, never been really out on my own,” he said. “For the first time ever, I had to rely on my own and kind of navigate the world on my own. (Now I was) traveling all the way to South Carolina, taking the flights, taking the buses, not really knowing what’s going on.”

One of his first duty stations after basic training was a combat support hospital in Dublin, Calif.

“So, it was actually pretty cool. I got certified in CLS, which is combat lifesaving. So pretty much kind of like a licensed vocational nurse. You learn to treat gunshot wounds, apply tourniquets, apply IVs, treat patients that have breathing problems and stuff of that nature. So, I did a lot of medic stuff while assigned to that unit,” Andrade recalls.

Putting military experience to use at CDCR

Learn more about how Andrade applied his military skills to becoming a correctional officer and then promoting to sergeant with CDCR.

He’s worked at the extreme northern and southern areas of California at Pelican Bay State Prison in Crescent City and RJ Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego. Now he’s based at California State Prison, Sacramento, in Folsom.

“I love my military and love my country. I would do it all over again if I had the choice,” Andrade said. “I’m still proud to say it, like, I’m a veteran.”

Story by Don Chaddock, Inside CDCR editor

CDCR Unlocked podcast