My husband has been AWOL for 7 years and was just arrested yesterday?

Question

We have a home loan which is in his name, we file taxes, we've always lived in the same place, and he has received many tickets in the last 7 years. He left in time of peace and he was not on any assignment (he went to PT and did whatever he wanted for the rest of the day - went to college) He had received an honorable discharge after his first four years. He left right after re-enlistment after badly injuring his hip and foot. What do you think the consequence will be and how could it have taken this long for it to pop up on his record?

Answer 1

Tracy,
I sympathize for your situation. I was a Company Commander at Fort Knox and had to deal with "AWOL" Soldiers. There is no statute of limitations for his crime. Regardless of peace or war, his actions were criminal. I don't think he has too much to worry about, however, you may have a financial burdern to "pay" for the enlistment time he avoided. His reasons for leaving the Army while violating his contract are also irrelevant; a crime is a crime.

I doubt highly he will do any jail time - I suggest he cooperate and he will likely be quickly discharged.

Answer 2

There are several possibilities: First, he could simply be assigned to a transition center and processed for a chapter 10, which is a discharge in lieu of court-martial. He must request this though. The type of discharge would be under other than honorable conditions. Second, he may be returned to the unit that he went AWOL from and prosecuted for AWOL and/or desertion. In this case, he may receive jail time and a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge. It sounds like he may have some mitigating circumstances, though.

Answer 3

The most likely scenario is that if he was reported as a deserter he will be sent to USADIP (US Army Deserter Information Point) in either Ft Knox, KY or Ft Sill, OK. There he will be put back into a uniform and live in barracks, not a jail. He'll spend the next 2 to 3 weeks processing out with a less than honorable discharge. That's about the worst of it.

As far as why it took so long. The branches of service (Army at least) does not actively pursue deserters anymore. When someone is reported as a deserter USADIP will enter a warrant into the NCIC (National Crime Information Center). They will wait until someone picks them up such as the Police and then take possession from there and send them to either Ft Sill or Ft Knox.

Answer 4

There are many cases like this. After a brief time of being incarcerated he will be assigned to a military base where he will be assigned his old rank. He will the be court martialed and probably recieve a general discharge and a fine. The bad news is that this could take months and he will only be recieving military pay during this time.
His AWOL is a federal criminal issue and very few agencies ever check that database.

Answer 5

his past has caught up with him and now he has to pay the piper. remember that guy who deserted during the Korean Conflict? 50 some odd years later and he was court martialed too.

he will languish in jail most likely, until JAG decides what to do with him. Expect him to be courtmartialed at the very least, he will most likely see Brig time, he will almost certainly be fined and he can kiss any chance he ever had of ever getting a decent job again goodbye.

Answer 6

I am ex-military. The bottom line is he was arrested for being AWOL for a reason. I am certain you know what AWOL means, so either he has been dishonest with you OR it's a clerical/administrative error.

Answer 7

Why do you what to stay with someone so irresponsible and criminal? He should go to jail and you along with him for abetting his criminal behavior.

Answer 8

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