Question about treatment of AWOL GIs?

Red 7

UCMJ and the commander will handle the problem; it is not up to the sergeant to administer any kind of action. However, I suspect if he is not a constant problem child, he will deploy with less rank and maybe have to clean the latrine for 45 days. If he has shown a pattern of trouble, he could face prison time and a dishonorable discharge. Most of the time, troops are not sentenced to do hard time for being awol. A trial plus the time for the defense to get squared away cost too much time and money. It is easier for the commander and troop to utilize non-judicial punishment.

fatboysdaddy

If he returns in time for his deployment then when he arrives in the country of deployment he will be charged for the time of being AWOL and can lose a strip or if he was up for a promotion then that will be taken away as well. Maybe an article 15 but mostly it would be done at the company level.

DOOM

If I had anything to say about it, he'd be in military prison at least as long as his deployment would have been.

tallerfella

Article 15 for sure. Reduction in rank. Forfeiture of pay and allowances for up to 6 months. He will still ship out, but he will be on shitter duties when he gets in country. AND that is not a pleasant task.........

Todd J

his chain of command could push for a court marshal upon which he could get 45 days hard time. i was a company 1SG of an infantry rifle company and one of my soldiers received that while we were in country and i got the full 45 days out of him. he was filling sandbags from sun up to sun down for the first couple of weeks then i took him out to our patrol base where the fun really started. he filled more bags, then more bags, then even more. he was also the sh*t burner, and took out and burned all the trash. then he filled even more sand bags. he was BEGGING to go back to his platoon long before he was done. hard time doesn't have to be something constructive or even have anything to do with the offense as opposed to extra training. it is just as the name states - hard time. never had a problem with him after that, in fact, he was straight as an arrow to put it mildly.

rest of the story - a couple of weeks after his hard time, he got hit by a mortar round and shipped out of country. he was healing just fine and i can only assume that he is doing well at whatever he's doing now.

Submariner 1

It depends on the indiidual, the circumastances, command needs, ect. Some I would try to keep and help out, others I would bury! I really depends on the whole picture, not just one aspect of it.

STS1 E-6 Active USN
Division Leading Petty Officer

**ADDED** William K. That desertion thing you said is a BS myth. You can be gone 1 hour a be deemed a deserter. To be a deserter you show intent of not returning. If you tll your command I am never comming back, well you are now a deserter. The 30 day thing is what the Military GENERALLY but not always uses as the tell tale if they have not otherwise anounced their intention to not return. It is assumed at 30 days you have no intention, bu if you say it, wammo! You are a deserter. I have seen a guy gone for two days and be a deserter when he told the COB (Senior Enlisted on the Submarine) to "Fu*k himself, I'm not comming back". A couple days later he was stopped for speeding, guess what! He was arrested for desertion after a Wants and Warrants was conducted on him!

Well when I was in the Navy if you went AWOL for a few days buy didn't miss the ship you would end up at captain's mast. You go before the captain of the ship and he decides what to do. At the least you would be looking at fines, maybe a demotion.

Sometimes they threw the really messed up guys in the Brigg (ships jail). This was a very unpleasant place to be for a sailor because it was run by the Marines.

nalaredneb

If he is back before deploying. There will be consequences, but he will still be deployed because the need for bodies is high. It is a cut and dry issue.

jack

It all depends on his CO! If he says hang him they will! If he thinks he's a good guy no matter what he did no problem!

nonldsinutah

It really all depends on his chain of command and how far they want to take this.

His Commander would probably let his First Sergeant have him. First Sergeants are really good about straightening out soldiers.

Wayne C

We take this seriously because it is very very very serious. Did I say "very" enough?????

Less than 3 days can get you 30 in the stockade.

Crossing the 3rd day threshold can put you in the stockade for 6 months.

Go 30 you are reclassified as a "deserter". That will get you 18 months and a Dishonorable Discharge. As that is a felony the DOD will report that to NCIS. You can not own a weapon of any type and ANY employer doing a criminal check WILL see that as a felony conviction.

There are NO as in ZERO liberal judges to let your "Gomer Butt" off easy.

As an extended example lets look at Art. 104 Aiding the enemy. Sen. John F. Kerry admitted to violating this Article while still a member of the US Navy in his book. Take a look at the punishment he avoided. Just click the 2nd link. The man is lucky he was not charged.

The UCMJ is a CRUEL task master!
Do what you are told. Period. End of story

ARE WE CLEAR????

SSG US Army 73-82

Let me just tell you what happened where I work.

This guy took off for a week, turned himself in.

they were going to go easy on him because he turned himself in, but he showed no remorse.

this guy got no pay for the days he was gone, and no benefits.

he got kicked out eventually, but it was a long process and he basically sat around and did nothing because he lost his security clearance.

I cant see a person who goes AWOL as a desirable person to have on a deployment, there would be president set that the person is unreliable and likely to take off. that is not someone that i would want to be deployed with. you have to be able to trust these people with your life. there are a reason for the rules.

sorry tangent, i believe that a portion of what happens to the person also has to do with their prior history, if they were a good, rule abiding troop and whatnot. it also has to do with their commander and what he/she feels is necessary

Pearl S

of course there still gonna ship him out! where will he run to in the middle of a war. one of my husbands soldiers went awol right before they deployed and he is now paying for it and so is his family. you can lose money rank and it will make life a lot harder for you.

Ex Air Force/Navy

Article 15 and put on extra duty for 30 days.

The Mozzer

At least an Article 15.

tietzedet

Here is one story about an AWOL GI - I know there is a GI Hotline that one can call if they have questions about this sort of thing:

AP) A U.S. soldier who said he left his unit in Iraq to protest an "oil-driven" war was convicted of desertion Friday and sentenced to a year in jail and a bad conduct discharge.

A military jury met for about 20 minutes before giving the maximum sentence to Staff Sgt. Camilo Mejia, an infantry squad leader with the Florida National Guard.

"I have no regrets. Not one," Mejia said before his sentencing.

In his comments to the jury of four officers and four enlisted soldiers, Mejia said he was not afraid of going to jail. "I will take it because I will go there with my honor, knowing I have done the right thing," he said.

Mejia, 28, says he refused to return to his unit after a two-week furlough in October because he believes the war in Iraq is unjust. He turned himself in to the Army in March and sought status as a conscientious objector.

Military prosecutors argued that Mejia abandoned his troops and didn't fulfill his duty.

"He enjoyed all the benefits of the military, just not the duty," Capt. A.J. Balbo, the lead prosecutor, said in his closing argument. "The defense says he accomplished all his missions. Except the most important one â€” showing up."

Mejia's commander in Iraq, Capt. Tad Warfel, said the verdict would send a message that "deserters are punished, regardless of what their arguments are or their excuses."

Mejia told jurors that one of the turning points for him was an ambush his unit faced in Ramadi, when he said four soldiers were wounded by shrapnel and he saw an Iraqi civilian decapitated by U.S. machine gun fire.

"So things change, perceptions change," Mejia said. "You lose perspective of the value of human life. It happens."

Mejia was led out of the courthouse by military police with his hands cuffed behind his back to a waiting patrol car. Some civilian supporters shouted words of encouragement, including "Bravo, Camilo!"

Defense lawyer Louis Font said in his closing argument that Mejia made "an honest mistake of fact."

"This case clearly is about what was in the accused's mind," Font said. "He had an honest and reasonable view that because he had become a conscientious objector, he would not be required to serve in Iraq anymore."

Mejia's application to be an objector is being considered separately.

In his objector application, he also claims he saw Iraqi prisoners treated cruelly when he was put in charge of processing detainees last May at al-Assad, an Iraqi air base occupied by U.S. forces.

He did not mention specific abuse claims during his comments to the jury Friday, but told them that their decision, and the actions of American troops in Iraq, would be noticed around the world.

"I say that we're all on trial because the world is watching. They're looking at the decisions we make (such as) war crimes, abuse of prisoners," he said.

william k

It doesn't matter if your gone 1 day or 29 the punishment is the same. he will most likely lose a rank and get restricted for a while and maybe pay a fine. the 30 mark is when you get jail time. that is when you go from AWOL to deserter.

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