What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? VA
Well much like some of you, I was AWOL. I left from Basic before graduation. I was AWOL for 373 days before being arrested on civillian charges. My advice to anyone who is AWOL, TURN YOURSELF IN.... this is what happened to me:
I was arrested for a civillian charge in mid August, since I had a warrant and detainer out from the US Army, I was not given a bond, which means I had to sit and wait for over a month for my court date. The day after court, I was picked up and taken to the closest provost marshalls office awaiting transport accomodations to Ft. Knox, KY.
Everyone along the way was incredibly nice and understanding. They were not judgemental nor did they even mention it beyond casual conversation. The cell in the provost marshalls office was cold, much like a jails holding cell. It was also monitored 24 hours a day by camera and a guard... some were nice, some didn't even say a word to me their entire shift. I sat at the provost marshalls office in VA for 2 days before they took me to the aiport. I was given my ticket and told that if I chose to run from them in the airport, I'd just be making my life infinitely more difficult. They removed my cuffs and walked me through the airport and kept watch over me until my flight took off.
Upon arrival in Ft. Knox, I reported to the USO office in the aiport. I signed in under AWOL and waited for the MP's to arrive. They were supposed to be there and 1300, but did not arrive until 0100 the next morning. There were a few other AWOLS waiting with me, each with their own stories, so it wasn't so bad. We got to watch television and eat while we waited.
When the MP's finally arrived, they were all extremely nice. They did not handcuff me while being transported. When we arrived on base, we went into an office to get fingerprinted and some information taken down. We were then escorted to the barracks in which all the AWOLs were staying. All of our property went into lockup and we were issued footlockers with ACU's, Sweats, Socks, and a hygiene kit. We then got briefed by the Lieutenant. Out of all the people I encountered on my trip, he was the biggest ******* of them all, a civillian with rank who acted like he was an Army Officer. But so long as you conducted yourself in a military manner, he didn't really say much. During the briefing we were told that if you have only been AWOL once and are not wanted by the Army for anything else you will be gone within 2-5 days, if you screw around, your going to be there for a much longer time.... and some people were.
I arrived on Thursday and left on Tuesday. If I had gotten there on Wednesday I would have left that Friday. This is because certain stages of out-processing only happen on certain days of the week, so depending on when you get there is when you'll be leaving. I would suggest (for anyone going to Knox) to get there on a Tuesday, and you will be leaving on Friday.
The staff at the Ft. Knox Out-Processing Facility for the most part are very courteous and friendly. They are all civillian, but most have prior military background, so treat them with respect and you will be returned the same.
Some Quick Info:
The meals there are good and you get a "snack" everynight at 8:30... which is basically just another meal in itself... two sandwhiches, fruit and a drink.
Take a phone card. You will be allowed to use the phones during "free time" which is everyday after 5pm and all day mostly on the weekends unless your on detail.
There is no smoking at Ft. Knox. On details, the person taking you out may get a pack of cigarrettes for you to smoke on detail, but there is no smoking at the barracks, which is where you'll spend the majority of your time.
The barracks are nice. No, you are not in a jail cell, you stay in dorm-like building with 3 beds per room.
At Ft. Knox, they do NOT provide you with transport arrangements back home, unless you opt to stay an extra 2 months to work for it. If you'd like to leave ASAP, which most of you will, make sure you have someone at home ready to purchase a bus ticket or airline fare when you know when you are leaving. You will have several opportunities to arrange this while you are there.
They only release on Tuesday and Friday.
If you want to stay in, you'd better have a astonishing reason why you left.
Anyways, all in all it was actually a quite pleasant process. Not once did I feel judged for what I had chosen to do. Everyone there is very nice to you as long as you respect them (Yes sir, etc). I hope this helps some of you, I read and read through these forums before I went back and some of the posts helped me a lot, just paying it forward
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