Former Polk Soldier shares precautionary tale about going AWOL

By Sgt. Kevin Stabinsky
May 15, 2006

FORT POLK, La. (Army News Service, May 15, 2006) – Though he said he’d never use it, "Jay" carried an extra round in his helmet – a last resort to avoid capture in Iraq. But the minuscule weight of a single cartridge of 5.56mm ammo was nothing compared to the heavy thoughts he carried in his head.

Jay, a former Fort Polk Soldier, didn’t want to be in Iraq. He longed to be with his wife as she prepared for the impending birth of their first child, and found himself slowly drowning in thoughts of how to get home.

Jay’s answer was the bullet jingling in his helmet. The round he vowed never to use soon found itself passing through his right foot.

"I tried to go through my chain of command the right way to get home, but when that didn't work, I decided to do it my way”, he said.

Rather than a way to his wife and soon-to-be-born child, Jay's plan got him a ticket back to Fort Polk for medical evaluation and treatment. Already frustrated, he did what few would expect a Soldier with a bad foot to do – he took off "running."



War increases number of AWOL Soldiers

Jay’s actions aren’t unique. According to Pentagon estimates, nearly 5,500 military personnel have deserted the armed forces since Operation Iraqi Freedom began in 2003. Though there has been a decrease in recent years (2,479 in 2004 from 3,681 in 2003), the problem has still grown exponentially. Since 1995, there has been an almost 300 percent increase in Soldiers absent without leave, or AWOL.



A 2003 study by the U.S. Army Research Institute for Behavioral and Social Science – “What We Know About AWOL and Desertion” – shows war tends to increase the number of desertions. War and the fear of death and injury are not the major reasons Soldiers go AWOL, however. The study revealed that 33 percent of Soldiers leave due to family problems, while 31 percent leave due to a failure to adapt to military life.

Capt. John Lybarger, a former company commander at Fort Polk, said he processed approximately 20 AWOL cases a month and saw similar trends. Lybarger said family issues are the main cause for Soldiers going AWOL, with financial problems following closely behind.

"A lot of Soldiers find out they can't live the lifestyle they want and end up getting in deep debt," he said. "Rather than seeking help from their commander and non-commissioned officers, they try to run from their problems."

No matter the reason, being AWOL is a serious offense under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, said Capt. Sean Mangan, Fort Polk’s chief military justice prosecutor.

Under UCMJ, article 86, a Soldier is considered AWOL if "without authority they fail to go to their appointed place of duty at time prescribed, goes from that place or absents himself or remains absent from his unit, organization or place of duty at which he is required to be at the time prescribed."

From Soldier to fugitive

After 30 days, a Soldier is dropped from the rolls and classified as a deserter (Article 85). At this point, a federal warrant is issued and the AWOL Soldier’s name is entered into the National Crime Information Center, a federal database that tracks outstanding warrants, Lybarger said.

While Soldiers may go AWOL for freedom, this database essentially turns them into fugitives.

"It was really hard (being on the run), knowing any minute a cop might sneak up on you and haul you back in," Jay said.

A sense of freedom wasn’t the only thing Jay lost when going AWOL. He missed his child’s birth by a few days and his marriage dissolved not long after.

Making a “fresh start” was also difficult, Jay said. Simple things – applying for a job, opening and maintaining a bank account, buying a car or home – were impossible. Like bread crumbs, the paperwork involved in those endeavors would create a trail leading directly to him.

Jay eventually found work on a fishing boat. For more than two years he slipped through the cracks. Then his luck ran out one night as he left the docks for home and was stopped by a police officer. Oddly enough, Jay wasn’t stopped because of his unauthorized leave of absence.

"There had been a few recent robberies around the area, and the policeman said he thought I looked a little like the composite sketch of the subject they were looking for," Jay said. The subsequent investigation unearthed Jay’s secret.

Jay was put into jail, awaiting transfer back to Fort Polk. Unlike his first trip to the installation, made as a hero ready to serve and defend his country, this journey was filled with shame and guilt. Those emotions were amplified by the scorn he said he could read in the faces of the DoD policeman and Soldiers who handled his return.

Getting caught, returning to duty

A majority of Soldiers who’ve gone AWOL return to their duty station on their own accord, Lybarger said.

"About 60 percent (of the Soldiers) I see turn themselves in for some reason or another," he said. "They knew they were in trouble to begin with, took care of problems and are now back to take care of the Army."

Returning to the duty station of one’s own volition can lessen the punishment a Soldier receives, Mangan said. However, as with all AWOL cases, that is left to the discretion of the Soldier's command, he said.

Length of time absent and reasons for absence are taken into account. Unauthorized absence from guard, watch, duty or with the intent to abandon a special type of duty, maneuvers or field exercises can hurt a Soldier's chance for rehabilitation and lead to a discharge, said Mangan.

About 75 percent of returning AWOL Soldiers are rehabilitated, Lybarger said.

"I've seen Soldiers go on to do great things," he said. "One (Soldier I know) came back and went on to excel at the Warrior Leader's Course and is on course to making a good non-commissioned officer."

Often, Soldiers can be rehabilitated because they aren’t necessarily “bad,” just young and immature, Lybarger said. Like Jay, who joined the Army fresh out of high school, Lybarger said most of the AWOL Soldiers he sees are privates, 18-23 years old and at their first duty stations.

According to Pentagon sources, of those separated from the service, 94 percent receive other than honorable discharges, losing veteran’s benefits, college money, federal home loans and the ability to hold a government job.

Under Article 86 of UCMJ, Soldiers who go AWOL can be punished in a variety of ways including punitive discharges (bad conduct or dishonorable discharge), confinement, forfeiture of pay or a combination of all three.

But circumstances dictate the type of punishment a Soldier receives.

"Punishment boils down to the command's option and the Army policy to use only the necessary means to discipline a Soldier," Mangan said. "Commanders should consider circumstances and Soldiers’ merit."

"You can't just have one standard; it all depends on the individual," Lybarger added, saying he looks at the impact an AWOL Soldier could have on fellow Soldiers.

"Sometimes these Soldiers are gone so long that they lose their (military attitude), so you have to ensure this doesn’t rub off on others," he said.

If Jay could turn back time, going AWOL is something he said he’d change. "I regret every minute of it."

While the lessons he learned might be too late for Jay, who received a discharge other than honorable, he hopes his testimony will deter others from following his footsteps.

"Don't do it. Stick around and honor your commitment," he said.

(Editor’s note: Sgt. Kevin Stabinsky writes for Fort Polk’s Guardian.)

One word comes to mind for him - Coward.

"Hundreds of thousands of American servicemen and women are deployed across the world in the war on terror. By bringing hope to the oppressed, and delivering justice to the violent, they are making America more secure. "
George W. Bush

I bet this Soldier 'Jay' had a few barracks lawyers giving him advice too.

Blacksmith Six

"I'm normally not a praying man, but if you're up there, please save me Superman!"  -Homer Simpson

I was going to say "Idiot." 

BTW, the article didn't mention this but if he shot himself in the foot, he should also have received, at the very least, a FG Article 15 for malingering. 

"...my religious belief teaches me to feel as safe in battle as in bed. God has fixed the time for my death. I do not concern myself about that, but to be always ready, no matter when it may overtake me." He added, after a pause, looking me full in the face: "That is the way all men should live, and then all would be equally brave"

General "Stonewall" Jackson

" After the demise of the best Airborne plan, a most terrifying effect occurs on the battlefield.  This effect is known as the rule of the LGOPs.  This is, in its purest form, small groups of pissed of 19 year old American paratroopers.  They are well-trained, armed to the teeth and lack serious adult supervision.  They collectively remember the Commander's intent as "March to the sound of the guns and and kill anyone who is not dressed like you..." or something like that.  Happily they go about the days work. "