I have a friend who went awol from basic training for the army over a month ago. SHe wants to find a way to get out with out having to go back to her basic training station! ANd wants to be able to call her parents and tell them that she out of the army and doesn't have to wrry about cops at her door and to be able to see her daughter again.. SHe only 18 and is really confuseid about what to do .. Im not an expert so im not sure what to tell her.. CAn any one give me some advice!!
2007-05-14 05:46:59 · 16 answers · asked by Anonymous in Politics & Government ➔ Military
after 30 days, it becomes DESERTION, which is far far worse. she needs to turn herself in NOW . if she doesn't she will be spendingthe trest of her life looking over gher shoulder, and they WILL catch up toher eventually..
2007-05-14 07:53:20 · answer #1 · answered by Mrsjvb 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Mickey, I think you may be over simplifying it a bit. I believe if she fails at her basic markmanship or PT test they can recycle her as long as they like. So she could wind up in Basic for months and months trying to pass those tests.
And TRC talking to someone in the Army is the last thing she wants to do, guess what their advice is going to contact her parents and get a lawyer if that's an option. Being that she is awol from Basic and on the run, I doubt if she has funding to get a lawyer anyway.
2007-05-14 06:08:58 · answer #2 · answered by bettercockster1 4 · 0⤊ 3⤋
It seems that all Awols show up on Yahoo! for some reason. Plain and simple it is best to fess up and take the discharge now before the whole thing snowballs and ruins her life down the road.
2007-05-14 07:02:05 · answer #3 · answered by DietrichVonQuint 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
The only way to deal with this is to report to a military base and turn herself in. AWOL over 30 days is desertion, so they will punish her and give her a negative discharge. Since she is still in trainee status, they may just give her the discharge without jail time.
2007-05-14 06:08:09 · answer #4 · answered by PM4 3 · 2⤊ 1⤋
She needs to turn herself in to any military base (one close to home). She will then be charged under the UCMJ for AWOL. She will be given a discharge. These things take time though. The first step is to turn herself in. I know that will be hard for her, but the military has its own system and you have to work through it. Within two months after being turned in she will be discharged with a OTH (other than honorable) or a medical discharge.
2007-05-14 07:17:58 · answer #5 · answered by internationalsnubber 2 · 0⤊ 2⤋
She is screwed. No kidding. Wanting to get out is one thing, she could have just failed at her p.t. classes or marksmenship and they would have discharged her. NOW she has basically messed with the government. AWOL is serious. 18 or not, she made the decision and now she is in trouble. Tell her to quit running and face up to it.
2007-05-14 05:55:30 · answer #6 · answered by Mickey 6 · 2⤊ 1⤋
I'm going to say something a little different here:
I hope my memory and facts are correct...I will leave you to verifying this, but as far as I am aware you aren't actually considered as part of the military until you COMPLETE basic training.
Now, it's still not like you can just get up and leave when you want, but there are ways of getting out of the military in Basic before graduation. That's what basic is for, to weed out people who are not compatible. It sounds like your friend isn't compatible with the military.
Do what the others suggested, talk to a lawyer. She may have to forfeit her money, and maybe serve some brig time...but I don't think this is as big of a deal as if she did it AFTER basic training.
Check it out though...I'm not going to spend the time researching your friends' problems.
2007-05-14 06:16:25 · answer #7 · answered by powhound 7 · 2⤊ 3⤋
She has committed a serious offense. Her best bet is to turn herself in to the base. She doesn't have to worry about getting out because she will be dishonorably discharged. She may also serve some time in the brig...
Her dishonorable discharge will follow her the rest of her life. She should never have left....
If she doesn't turn herself in, the Army will eventually find her anyway and it will go a lot tougher on her.
2007-05-14 06:09:54 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 2⤋
The best thing she can do is turn herself in right now, the sooner the better. The longer she waits it will just cause much more trouble and the penalty will just be harsher.
For sooner of later they will get her and she will have to face the music, get it over with. Turning her self in will just make it much easier on her.
If she is your friend try and convince her to turn her self in quickly.
2007-05-14 06:05:53 · answer #9 · answered by Jerry80871852 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Since she has been AWOL over 30 days, she is now a deserter. This means, she is screwed. She should contact a lawyer and make arrangements to turn herself in. The thing is, if she doesn't, there is no way she can ever drive legally, get hired by anyone, or possibly see her daughter ever again. She will be on the run for the rest of her life. Talk sense into your friend, and tell her to turn herself in. If she dind't want to be in, she should have told her Drill Instuctor that she wanted out of the Army, that is what Basic Training is for, to weed out the weak that don't belong. They would have gotten rid of her.
Since she went AWOL, and now deserted, she will be taken back into the Army, and Court Martialed. This means, she will be in the Army for the duration of the Court Martial, and when she is convicted, she will be kicked out, and then probably put in jail for up to 5 years.
The lawyer could get the sentence reduced, since she didn't complete basic training, however, the longer she runs, the worse it is for her.
The Army isn't going to waste their time looking for her, but all it will take is for her to get pulled over for speeding, or running a stop sign, and the cops will take her to jail. It won't take much to find her, eventually someone will turn her in.
Speaking of which, you knowing what you know, you could be charged for assisting a deserter. If the Army wants to push this, they will have the FBI come talk to you, since you are a friend of hers and they will ask you if you seen her. You lie to them, you can go to jail for impeding an investigation.
This isn't like she just quit her job, going AWOL and deserting is serious. Just to let you know how serious, this is out of the Manual for Court Martial:
(c) Any person found guilty of desertion or attempt
to desert shall be punished, if the offense is
committed in time of war, by death or such other
punishment as a court-martial may direct, but if the
desertion or attempt to desert occurs at any other
time, by such punishment, other than death, as a
court-martial may direct.”
e. Maximum punishment.
(1) Completed or attempted desertion with intent
to avoid hazardous duty or to shirk important service.
Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and
allowances, and confinement for 5 years.
(2) Other cases of completed or attempted desertion.
(a) Terminated by apprehension. Dishonorable
discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and
confinement for 3 years.
( b ) Terminated otherwise . Dishonorable dis-charge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and
confinement for 2 years.
(3) In time of war. Death or such other punishment
as a court-martial may direct.
A civilian lawyer can help, only if he/she knows military law. Its not really useless, but this is pretty much a cut and dry case, she is AWOL, there is no doubt about that. A civilian lawyer will fight for her more to stay out of prison, just because its their reputation on the line. They will dig and view the case at all angles. They will look deep for the loop hole to get their client off of the charges. A military lawyer won't dig as deep. They might try to fight a little, but they aren't going to go out of their way to save the girl who is knowingly breaking the military law.
Also, as far as failing a PT test, or something else. What would happen in that case, she would be sent to remedial training, basically, she would be recycled and spend longer in basic training. After repeated failures, she would be discharged, but it probably would have been an admin discharge, its not negative like she is facing now. Now she is facing a bad conduct discharge or even a dishonorable discharge. These are like a felony, and they will haunt her for the rest of her life. She should have consulted someone before she went AWOL.
Don R, if you are really a 1SG, first you would get your own rank right, and second, under the MCM, it states what I have written above, so how can you say she is going to be fine? Are you her 1SG or CC? Its it up to the CC, or in the case of a court martial, it would be the judge. I understand she may not be shot, but that is a worse case scenerio.
2007-05-14 06:23:12 · answer #10 · answered by George P 6 · 3⤊ 2⤋
in the uk you have be be awol for five solid years and then they kick you out .. high possibilty of doing time in the glass house too for going awol...
Usually her first port of call should be the padre he out ranks every one and holds so much authority she may have to soilder on until it is resolved but they are usually quite quick at discharge should the circumstances warrant it
2007-05-14 08:20:06 · answer #11 · answered by sammie 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋