Legal Question in Military Law in California

Re: awol

Could be a problem. If they do a background check, it may show up. You should plan a return to Army custody for a few weeks and receiving an other than honorable discharge as a worst case scenario, because you may still be in the Army! Might be a good time to plan to take some vacation leave from work, if the authorities show up with an arrest warrant. Could easily happen. On the other hand, the best case scenario is that the Army didn't bother to put your info into a more updated data base and you'll slip through the cracks. You'll assume that risk when you send in your passport application. Good luck!

Re: awol

While I agree with what Mr. Puckett says, your post does not tell me whether or not when you went AWOL, if you thereafter returned to the Army. It APPEARS from Mr. Puckett's response, that he assumed that you did not.

If you went AWOL and never returned to the Army, after 30 days, your legal status would have been changed to that of a deserter. If the Army changed your status to desertion, then they most likely would have filed a deserter "warrant" although, back then before things were computerized, cases frequently fell through the "cracks." But, as you anticipate by your question, the background check to obtain a passport COULD potentially find your AWOL/desertion charges and the application would give them your location.

My advice is for you to retain a qualified lawyer, meaning someone who has a military law background, to negotiate a resolution so that you can put this behind you once and for ever. Will the Army prosecute you? Unless there are other aggravating factors, e.g., there were other charges pending at the time that you went AWOL, probably not, although legally they could.

About a year ago, the Army prosecuted a guy who had deserted during the Korean War - but he had "gone over" to the North Korean side. But, even then, he got basically a "time served" sentence and a Bad Conduct Discharge.

If you have any other questions or would like additional information, feel free to contact me at [email protected].

Good luck.

Don Rehkopf