Legal Question in Military Law in California

Re: ucmj

I have heard from many people that you can get away with murder, but most of them were behind bars when they said that. Do not believe anyone who tells you to wait until you are dropped from the rolls. The military has a long memory and is exceedingly patient. If you go back now you face an Article 15 for awol; if you wait you're looking at a general court martial for desertion which is going to put a major black mark on your record and disqualify you from government service and employment in certain sectors.

Unless you committed some treasonous act before you went AWOL, it is very unlikely that they could tack on enough charges to even a general court martial at this point to result in you getting 20 years. Clearly your commander was trying to dissuade you from doing a stupid thing and going AWOL. But don't expect mercy. Expect a field grade article 15, loss of pay and allowances, restriction (or possibly confinement for a short time)and the crappiest details imaginable for the next 12 months.

Now, this may sound like a bad plan to you. But if you stay AWOL and get placed in a deserter status, one day ten years from now a cop will pull you over (or you'll go through a TSA check point) and they'll slap the cuffs on you and haul you off to jail, and you'll wind up in front of some other commander with a lot less interest in doing anything that helps you.

At this point, after 2 weeks, the military is still willing to help you become the soldier, sailor, airman or marine that you can be. If you wait past 30 days, they have no incentive.

I speak from experience. I went AWOL in boot camp, and took an Article 15 for it. I wound up serving for six years and coming away with two Army Commendation Medals. You can go back, and you can have a wonderful career in the military, but if you rely on the advice of strangers to "wait until you're dropped..." then it would be a good idea to make sure that you look good in stripes.