I went AWOL from basic training how do i get discharged wthout going back.?

Question

Ive been back for about 20 days and i want to turn myself in after 27 days but i dont want to go back to basic training i just want to get out processed and dischared. What should i do to make sure i dont get put back into basic? What will they do if i fail a drug test now? Would this help me get discharged. I would really appreciate accurate answers and i do have my own reasons for leaving i suffer from depression.

Answer 1

I am a retired USAF Officer. Once you go AWOL you are a wanted man and being looked for by the US Marshall's Office, not the Army. You apply for work and state that you never were in the military or have an honorable discharge. When they do a background check and discover you lied, you will be fired. You cannot try and get a state or federal job because they do a background check. If you apply for credit, you will show up as being a fugative. A background check includes a check to see if you are wanted by any state or feds

You were an adult when you signed up. You are still an adult. Do something right once in your life. Stop the drugs. Go to the nearest military fort, base or whatever you can find. Turn yourself in. Take whatever punishment they give you. You still have the right for a lawyer and the military will provide one for you at no cost. You may still have to serve your enlistment obligation. You could be discharged with an Honorable, Less than Honorable, Administrative, Bad Conduct, or Dishonorable Discharge. Some make it almost impossible to get a real job. To get those you have to have a Courts Martial. The first two are paper work discharges. Article 15 is non judical punishment. I don't know what it is called in the Army but in the Air Force there is a 39-12 discharge is an Administrative Discharge under Less then Honorable Conditions. You will be out in as little as a week.

The only thing I will add is I think the two Sgt's who answered above me were a little soft on what I would do if I was your commander. Especially if you came back and tested positive for drugs. And you will be tested. Stay at home and be arrested for possible desertion. Go back to the Army and do what is right. Hope your Commander is softer than I would be under either way back. If you are clean when you return you would have a better chance with me.

Answer 2

You have to turn yourself in. Its the only way. You will get in trouble, expecially if you come back before 30 days you will really make people mad, but thats the cowardly choice you made. You could have spoken up to a drill sergeant, but you ran away. You are no longer a kid. There is no saved game point or reset button. You made a choice, as an adult. When you make a choice, you have to face the concequence. If you took drugs, that is another choice you made. You have to face that concequence too.

Depression is an excuse you are using. I am not saying you dont have it, but you still made choices. You have to face those choices. Just like a drunk driver does. They didnt mean to crash into a car and kill someone, but they made a poor choice while under an influence, and now they have to face up for that choice.

It is no longer your choice what happens now. Once you made the choice to sign, its up to you now.

This is not just an Army thing. This is a fact for the rest of your life. When you make a choice, you have to live with it.

You will more then likely get an Article 15. After that there will be medical evaluations to work toward a discharge. It will depend on the chain of command on what type of discharge. More then likely a general discharge or other then honorable. Not very likely you will get a dishonorable. Employers will ask in the future though. That is another concequence you accepted when you chose this route.

Answer 3

The army will not hunt anybody down. However, they will put out a federal arrest warrant. Sooner or later the AWOL soldier will be stopped for something and the warrant will come up when the name is run. It might not be for 50 years, but the warrant will be there the whole time. At that point the police will arrest the AWOL soldier and he'll be sent back to the army. It's highly unlikely he'll get a dishonorable discharge...highly unlikely. The odds are it will just be "entry level" and "convenience of the government."

Answer 4

I'm a retired Senior NCO.

My best guess is you will be discharged. At best a General under less than honorable conditions. Worst case probably Bad Conduct. At the very least you will lose everything that a Vet is entitled to and there could very easily be some jail time. Go back, talk to your First Shirt and Commander. See if you can be separated administratively. Article 15 is a general catch all and if the old man is feeling great s/he might discharge for the convenience of the Government.

If I were your Shirt I would recommend the Commander discharge you under Article 15 with as bad a discharge as I could come up with but no fine beyond forfeiture of all pay and allowances and confinement only as long as it took to process you out. And no ticket home.

I couldn't in good conscience just discharge you without you feeling something. I don't think I would want your head but maybe a couple of square inches of the other end.

Good luck, you will need it.

Answer 5

I work for an AWOl apprehension unit. The only way to get discharged it to go back. If you dont, eventually, you will be listed as a deserter and your unit will put in paperwork and a federal felony warrant will be put out in your name. If you get stopped for rolling a stop sign, you will be arrested, held in civilian custody until we can come pick you up. You will be brought to a PCF in fort knox or fort sill and be dealt with there if you were in IET status. If you are a FORSCOM soldier, meaning already assigned to your permanent unit, you will be returned to them and they will deal with you how they see fit. If you are gone longer than 31 days you are a DESERTER! Go back before that!

Depression is a poor excuse. Go to Iraq and Afghanistan for 13 months each and tell me or the thousands who have done it about depression. The military has plenty of programs and groups to help you through the hard days of military life, all you had to do was ask for help, thats it.

Answer 6

This is an unfortunate situation you have yourself in and I don't blame you for not wanting to return. My son did the same thing in "desert storm", he kept going "awol" after finishing basic training, they finally gave him 3 mos. in the brig and gave him an other than honorable discharge. There is no way to get around not going back in order to get out, but, the longer it takes u to return the more severe the punishment will be, he did not know it at the time he could have asked for a "hardship discharge" due to the fact i was very ill at the time. They snatched half of his benefits after the "brig", discharged him, gave him some of his severence pay and sent him home, its difficult because once u sign on the dotted line, u become uncle sam's property. i wish you all the best in this, no one should have to go to war, we are losing too many of our loved ones in any war. I would consult an attorney you can trust and follow the instructions he or she may give you, but, the best thing I can suggest to you is to turn yourself in and deal with the consequences before its too late and they find you or someone turns you in if anyone else knows you have awol. My prayers are with you.

Answer 7

One way or another, you have to go back now. Turn yourself in. Once you do that, seek medical attention to get yourself discharged.


The important thing is that you go back now. If you don't, you'll eventually be "dropped from the rolls" and automatically be discharged. But the first time you get picked up by law enforcement (traffic ticket, etc.) you'll be arrested and handed over to the military. You'll probably be tried for desertion since we are at war.

Bottom line, go back and deal with this now. If you truly have depression, you'll almost certainly be discharged.

Answer 8

Be a man and go back and face the music. They WILL discharge. The military wants people who want to be there. Not quiters. You should have considered that before you joined, however, they will discharge you if you are on prescription medication for depression, and never acknowledged it in your paperwork when you joined. When I was a Drill Sgt. at Ft. Benning, I had a troop that was a manic depressive (bi-polar). I had no idea until he ran out of meds, started acting weird, up and down mood swings. We contacted his father, and his father had no idea that he had joined the Army. He told us about his medical situation. He was discharged in 6 days. That was back in the early 80's.

AWOL is NOT a felony, desertion is.

Answer 9

Go seek treatment from a Doc. for depression. Then contact the unit and express your desire to get discharged. Explain your situation, and have the doctor express that you should be discharged due to your condition. If it all works out you'll get a "Entry Level Separation" /ELS, since you completed less than 180 days. You haven't been in long enough to warrant a DD-214 discharge (i.e. Honorable, general, dishonorable). If you piss hot, you will only screw yourself. Don't do it...

Answer 10

at best your look a general discharge ,not so goodfor if will be on your dd214 for the rest of your live,, any further boss who been in the service will look at you as a fu . that the way is gereral discharge covers a whole range ,from fu to just about anythingh ,mental retartd bed wetter ..try to make some kind of amens with the army ,ther going to be a lot of doors that will close to you...