Awol 2 years

[Mobr]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?Louisiana

I went awol from benning three weeks into basic when i was informed that my brother was in an accident and suffered brain damage. That was 2 years ago. Since then ive been issued a merchant mariner document which requires a homeland security background check and ive also recently got a ticket but nothing has ever showed up from the army. When i went awol i received three letters to return and about two months later i got a letter saying to send a check so they can return my personal items. Toothbrush shaving stuff ect. When i left i took a cab with an mp and once i was at the airport he told me the army would most likely give me an ELS. Now im confused as to what i should do. Do i try to find out if they looking for me? I never recieved a pay check my time there. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you very much

[ERAUPIKE]

Originally Posted by Mobr

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?Louisiana

I went awol from benning three weeks into basic when i was informed that my brother was in an accident and suffered brain damage. That was 2 years ago. Since then ive been issued a merchant mariner document which requires a homeland security background check and ive also recently got a ticket but nothing has ever showed up from the army. When i went awol i received three letters to return and about two months later i got a letter saying to send a check so they can return my personal items. Toothbrush shaving stuff ect. When i left i took a cab with an mp and once i was at the airport he told me the army would most likely give me an ELS. Now im confused as to what i should do. Do i try to find out if they looking for me? I never recieved a pay check my time there. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you very much

It sounds like you were given an ELS. You can request a copy of your DD-214 to be sure.

[Mobr]

Any info on how i find out about the dd-214 and if i was given an els? Is my situation unheard of or is this something the army does depending on the situation? And could i have been given an els and them never informed me of it?

[objetora]

You can get your DD-214 from the website:

[url=http://www.archives.gov/veterans/evetrecs/]eVetRecs: Request Copies of Veterans Military Personnel Records[/url]

To me the ELS sounds unlikely, since it's not typical for someone to get that without knowing it and very, very unusual to get it after AWOL without returning to military control. People do fall through the cracks, but perhaps they treated it as a void or defective enlistment and never reported you AWOL?

Did the MP you took the cab with know that you were going AWOL?

[Mobr]

He knew i was going awol. He just wished me luck and told me about how i wasent really in long enough for them to care. I figured they just kept my pay for there trouble. What does it mean if i fell through cracks? Do i just go on with life? Is it possible that they will wait a few years to dfr me?

[objetora]

Did you check for your DD-214?

Falling through the cracks would mean that your paperwork floated off into bureaucracy-space somewhere never to be found.

If you don't have a DD-214 and you want to investigate further, you could call your unit and ask what's going on. An alternative is to call the AWOL Apprehension Unit at Benning (706.545.2638) and ask them if they have anything on you. It often works better for a concerned relative or friend to call about you.

[Mobr]

Ok so before i checked into the dd-214 i called the police station for the heck of it and told and asked if i had anything on my background. The lady asked if id been in the military and i said yes and she said that i need to go in. So im pretty sure the army issued my warrant which must of been this past month. Why would they wait two years to issue it? So now i plan on turning myself in at fort sill as soon as i find out if im dfr. Any suggestions on how to go about doing this?

[ERAUPIKE]

Originally Posted by Mobr

Ok so before i checked into the dd-214 i called the police station for the heck of it and told and asked if i had anything on my background. The lady asked if id been in the military and i said yes and she said that i need to go in. So im pretty sure the army issued my warrant which must of been this past month. Why would they wait two years to issue it? So now i plan on turning myself in at fort sill as soon as i find out if im dfr. Any suggestions on how to go about doing this?

You are undoubtedly DFR already. The Army has no interest in retaining someone like you. The only way to take care of this situation is to return to military custody as soon as possible.

[objetora]

If you've got a warrant, then you are DFR: first they DFR, then they put out the warrant. Even though your case is pretty automatic, it is always advisable to bring a statement explaining your reasons for going AWOL.

[Mobr]

Any reason as to why they waited so long to dfr me? Everyone else ive heard of was dfr'd in 30 to 40 days. And is there any number that i can call to see if my dfr packet has been received?

[objetora]

Originally Posted by objetora

You can call the AWOL Apprehension Unit at Benning (706.545.2638) and ask them if they have anything on you. It often works better for a concerned relative or friend to call about you.

The AWOL Apprehension Unit can tell you (or whoever calls).

The Army is a huge bureaucracy. Things get lost, things get delayed. Sometimes a commanding officer intentionally delays the filing of the papers. I've seen it all on the GI Rights Hotline.

[Mobr]

Ok i think ill have my wife call. Whats the chance of them lieing to her? And when i go to fort sill would it be a good idea to bring the pictures of my brother in the hospital? I have pictures of him right out of brain surgery which is right when i got home. And also will i be safe taking a plane to the airport there by fort sill?

[objetora]

It is very unlikely that they would lie to your wife about your DFR status.

Pictures of your brother would be very dramatic; why not? More official would be some kind of hospital records. All you're trying to do here, and it's probably going to go fine in any case, is present the reason for AWOL.

It's hard to say about taking a plane, what with security more intense these days. I have been told that they only check the do-not-fly list, not for warrants, but I don't think there's a 100% guarantee of that. Everything has a benefit, a cost, and a risk. I've never heard of a problem with taking the bus and paying cash, but is that ever boring if you've got a long way to go.

[Mobr]

Well i guess for the next few weeks i needa to start getting all my stuff together and figure out when i will go. Now i just hope i dont run into any problems when i get there. From what i understand i should be out of there in a week as long as im there tuesday. Do you think being gone so long will have any affect on how they discharge me? Then of course they did wait two years to dfr me.

[ERAUPIKE]

Originally Posted by Mobr

Ok i think ill have my wife call. Whats the chance of them lieing to her? And when i go to fort sill would it be a good idea to bring the pictures of my brother in the hospital? I have pictures of him right out of brain surgery which is right when i got home. And also will i be safe taking a plane to the airport there by fort sill?

You might want to see how your brother feels about you using him as an excuse for your actions. There are approved avenues that could have been used to grant you emergency leave to take care of your family issue. You chose to ignore those and run away. You are now faced with answering to the consequences for those actions and once again your true colors are showing. You are scared. You are not ashamed or sorry for what you have done. You are asking repeatedly how to obtain the lowest punishment possible for a very serious crime. Objetora may have experience in advising individuals like yourself but she is not a trained professional. She is a volunteer that has no legal training or professional experience. You can bring as many statements and pictures as you wish, they do not change a thing. The only way you will be able to end this horrid chapter of your life is to return to military custody. You have two options here, return of your own accord or be returned. If you return on your own, the general expereience is about what you are seeking. A quick and painless stamp on some paperwork that will follow you the remander of your life. If you are returned as a result of your arrest the consequnces have generally been much harsher, including brig time.

Each situation is different and no contributor on this forum can tell you what is going to happen in your situation. The responsible thing is to advise you that brig time is very possible. Your situation does not seem ver likely to result in any though. You may or may not be offered a discharge in lieu of court martial. If you want to be discharged accept that dishonor. Your situation, after a small glance at your very poorly structured posts, also seems to meet the justification for desertion charges. There is no guarentee that these charges will be or can be brought against you. It does seem to be a real possibility to me.

The military no longer releases DFR information to anyone. Your wife will receive the same answers you will. You can be assured that the chances that you have not been DFR'd or will be retained are minuscule. You have a better chance of winning the lottery or being struck by lightning twice.