Husband falsely accused of AWOL

[rogue_ausa]

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

I first want to say that I have posted on several forums and understand, and agree, with most people with how they feel about AWOL soldiers. Second I request that if you are going to post anything about the story being a lie or he isn't telling me the truth then please don't bother. I'm here to get him help, and most of what I am posting I have personally either seen or heard directly from the military.

My husband was signed into active duty from DEP on 7/18/02. At that time he went to basic at Ft. Jackson. After completion he then went on to Carson. There his job title was 96R and was sent over to Iraq in mid 03, completing a full tour. He reported to MDs his knee issues and they ordered a Xray. When returning he was sent to Ft. Huachuca for AIT somewhere around 05, I'm not sure exactly on when. While there he recieved paper orders to go to Campbell after training. Both is old and new unit was scheduled to be deployed again so he wanted to go with his old unit again vs going with a unit he was unfamilar with. He emailed a Sgt. Coppi to have his orders changed back. Using his military email Sgt. Coppi responded with that it was taken care of. After completion of his AIT and passing his PT his knee started to swell to the point he could no longer walk and apparently he was suppose to get excused from the running portion of the PT test due to the issue, however since he didn't get this he was in a bed for a month before he could be medically discharged. He walked out of Ft. Huachuca on crutches in 8/05 with DD214 in hand along with other separation papers. He was told he would receive separation pay for a total of 1 yr. He also signed a medical benefits waiver because they paid him more to do so and that he didn't have to register with the VA unless it continued to get worse and he could then appeal the waiver but that also long as he didn't do extensive labor his knee wouldn't progress further. In January of 06 we met on the internet and after meeting several times and spending time with his family and mine he moved to Texas to live with me and because he wasn't sure how this was going to end up he left most of his things in KC, MO. While down here his mothers cat urinated on all his things in his closet and when she moved she threw it all out, this included his DD214 (she didn't know what she was doing). In 7/06 we went to get his DL in TX because his CO DL expired and the DPS highway patrol man pulled him on a AWOL warrant. After calling around and unable to confirm it he let him go with a number to call to get it cleared up. He called the MP station at Carson and they said that all they needed was a letter of remissal from his CO unit there who was currently in Iraq. After emailing back and forth a few weeks this happened and we thought it was taken care of. Feb of this year we went to once more get his DL (no he doesn't have one he has severe issues driving and we didn't need him to have one until recently) once more and decided it might be best to call and make sure it was taken care of only to find out that he was still wanted. He called Carson MP station once more and the MP was really confused and didn't understand what was going on because he shows that he was cleared. He said he would take care of it, and this time I personally made sure it was. This past Tuesday my husband found my bother in law bashing my sisters head into the tile floor and pulled him off, subsequently getting in a fist fight with him. Police were called and when they ran my husband they found a active AWOL warrant from Ft. Campbell. I have been working very hard on trying to get this cleared up. He has been sitting in County since then. I've called Sill, Hood, Carson, Huachuca, and Campbell trying to find out who exactly is going to come get him but they all say they don't have orders to do so and because of this he has not gotten to see a attny. I also can't get a civilan lawyer to take it because of the details behind it so I've started to try and find proof. About a month ago we requested his DD214 from St. Louis and they say that they don't have it. I called the DoD to get his separation pay info and they don't show he received any and that he was DFR placed AWOL on 2/26/06. They also don't show a desertion packet on him. They don't show where he went to Iraq, or any orders however I was told its because they don't put those in the files. I've called Huachuca and the JAG ofc can't even find where he was there but I have papers in my possession from St. Louis where he graduated from AIT the first and second time. Carson shows that they cleared him based on a 190-3 but the MP didn't know what that meant and AWOL apprehention was gone until Monday. No offence to anyone at Hood but they are all *******s that refuse to tell me anything even though I have full power of attny that he signed so that I can try and get this taken care of. Out processing doesn't so anything because they only keep things for 3 years. Carson and everyone else don't show ANYTHING after Huachuca or Iraq. I've got a pay stub proving he was there with hazardous pay. Carson also had him AWOL 7/05 while he was in Huachuca for training and he is still on the list even though he is cleared. VA social worker said that this warrant was issued for a time after his ETS which was 7/17/06. Campbell is on a 4 day weekend and won't be back until Wed for me to talk to G1 there but if they are as nice as 20th replacemant command then I won't find out if they actually have the orders that he was suppose to be there or not. I found out that once things are sent to St. Louis they digitalize them and destroy the paper copies, while I understand why they would do this it is completely stupid in cases like this to physically pull the file to make sure something didn't happened. I've talked to one Master Sgt at Huachuca who said that this isn't the first time he's gotten a call like this. 2 other ppl at Campbell told me that they aren't suprised something like this has happened because Huachuca is a training facility and they don't do this type of thing that often and they should have just sent him back to Carson to get discharged properly. Instead they prob just rushed the whole thing and something happened. Those that have info either treat me like crap because they can't believe the army would make a mistake like this or they believe me but don't have access to help me. I need to know what to do. I've thought about the media but haven't because if he is lying to me and his whole family or didn't do something he was suppose to do then he might be punished more. Through all of this not a single person can say yes for a fact this is right or no this is wrong because the paper work is either missing or incomplete. I have to say its very discouraging to hear 90% of people automatically assume its true even when they don't have what they need in front of them to prove it. Any help would be appriciated.

Thank you anyone who reads this, I know it is long.

[ERAUPIKE]

Have you seen his DD214. That should be all the proof he needs.At a glance, it appears that your husband is simply lying.

[rogue_ausa]

Originally Posted by ERAUPIKE

Have you seen his DD214. That should be all the proof he needs.At a glance, it appears that your husband is simply lying.

You know I specifically asked for people like you to just not comment. Why is it that you think everything is that cut and dry? Its not, people fall through the cracks all the time, why is it hard to believe that the person at Huachuca didn't file the forms or that the person at St. Louis didn't upload them into the system before they got destroyed? Did you know that is what they do? They send the file off to St. Louis who then manually uploads them then they destroy the paper copy. Ever made a mistake at your job? Thought you did something but you didn't. Placed something in the wrong file to simply move it out of the way for a moment to get something for someone only to forget to move it back? I don't need someone else telling me that my husband is lying sir, especially someone who isn't able to look up and see all of the mistakes that are already on his file. So if you don't mind holding your tongue on a mire personal opinion.

[cyjeff]

Originally Posted by rogue_ausa

You know I specifically asked for people like you to just not comment. Why is it that you think everything is that cut and dry? Its not, people fall through the cracks all the time, why is it hard to believe that the person at Huachuca didn't file the forms or that the person at St. Louis didn't upload them into the system before they got destroyed? Did you know that is what they do? They send the file off to St. Louis who then manually uploads them then they destroy the paper copy. Ever made a mistake at your job? Thought you did something but you didn't. Placed something in the wrong file to simply move it out of the way for a moment to get something for someone only to forget to move it back? I don't need someone else telling me that my husband is lying sir, especially someone who isn't able to look up and see all of the mistakes that are already on his file. So if you don't mind holding your tongue on a mire personal opinion.

Fine, everyone is lying BUT you husband.

If you want to keep trying to invent some fiction that makes everyone else in the entire military an incompetent just so that your husband is still a good guy, go ahead.

However, from what you have stated, I don't see much of a chance.

[ERAUPIKE]

Originally Posted by rogue_ausa

You know I specifically asked for people like you to just not comment. Why is it that you think everything is that cut and dry? Its not, people fall through the cracks all the time, why is it hard to believe that the person at Huachuca didn't file the forms or that the person at St. Louis didn't upload them into the system before they got destroyed? Did you know that is what they do? They send the file off to St. Louis who then manually uploads them then they destroy the paper copy. Ever made a mistake at your job? Thought you did something but you didn't. Placed something in the wrong file to simply move it out of the way for a moment to get something for someone only to forget to move it back? I don't need someone else telling me that my husband is lying sir, especially someone who isn't able to look up and see all of the mistakes that are already on his file. So if you don't mind holding your tongue on a mire personal opinion.

You have no idea what you are talking about. I was actually being nice about this ridiculous story you posted. Now the gloves are off and you will get the whole truth. (from me now and hopefully from your husband soon)

The original file is never destroyed and whoever told you that (your husband?) is a liar. The purpose of any electronic scanning is to reduce the handling of fragile records during the reference process and to reduce the time necessary to locate an OMPF (original military personnel file). NPRC has nothing to do with accontability of personnel and a mistake on their part would not result in the situation you have described.

I said that he may be lying because you said, "I've thought about the media but haven't because if he is lying to me and his whole family or didn't do something he was suppose to do then he might be punished more." Usually someone that says something like that has reason to believe that something is wrong with the story they are receiving. There are many inconsistencies in your long and pointless story that jumped out to tell me that his story was false. For example, the Army would not offer him more money to not accept benefits from the Veterans Administration. They are two separate entities that operate indipendently. The Armed Forces does not offer service members money to decline medical coverage, that is absolutely absurd. It takes much longer than one month to be medically discharged and any such discharge would not have resulted in one year of separation pay.

If you don't like the reality of your situation then continue to believe what you want. Like I said before, with a DD-214 he can easily prove that he was discharged and is not AWOL. The record can be obtained by a simple request to NPRC or one should undoubtedly be located in his separation packet. The process of separating from the military is very in-depth and involves a variety of personnel throughout the process. The report of AWOL would come from his command and not anywhere else.

If you want something from his record then view this page;
[url=http://www.archives.gov/st-louis/military-personnel/standard-form-180.html#submit]Military Personnel Records, SF-180[/url]

I hope that you find out the truth one way or the other.

[ERAUPIKE]

Originally Posted by cyjeff

Fine, everyone is lying BUT you husband.

If you want to keep trying to invent some fiction that makes everyone else in the entire military an incompetent just so that your husband is still a good guy, go ahead.

However, from what you have stated, I don't see much of a chance.

Well stated

[cyjeff]

By the way, it is worth stating that an honorable discharge can be validated in less than an hour.

I have run such background checks.

[rogue_ausa]

For the record for those of you who said he was a liar I'd like to let you know that he is getting honorably discharged and receiving his new DD 214 on the 7th. For the record Carson found where he cleared everything on Huachuca except that required the medical paper work. They show where he passed his pt test but went to sick call and had several weeks of pt therapy at Carson for the same issue. Also for the record there was a soldier in his brigade going through the EXACT same problem. Only he did have his DD214 and the army took him anyway because they said it was a forgery because they don't have a record of any of it. He also got cleared by finding half of the proof but not the DD214. If my husband was truly a deserter for 4 yrs he would be going through a court right about now and getting sentenced to levensworth for a very very long time. For all those people out there who are searching for answers on this exact problem, just because ppl say it can't happen it does happen and according to someone at Huachua this isn't the first time they messed this up there. Everything is about paperwork in the military and if all the T's aren't crossed with all the I's dotted it can happen. This turned out to be a blessing for us for many reasons. Keep your hope up.

[ERAUPIKE]

Originally Posted by rogue_ausa

For the record for those of you who said he was a liar I'd like to let you know that he is getting honorably discharged and receiving his new DD 214 on the 7th. For the record Carson found where he cleared everything on Huachuca except that required the medical paper work. They show where he passed his pt test but went to sick call and had several weeks of pt therapy at Carson for the same issue. Also for the record there was a soldier in his brigade going through the EXACT same problem. Only he did have his DD214 and the army took him anyway because they said it was a forgery because they don't have a record of any of it. He also got cleared by finding half of the proof but not the DD214. If my husband was truly a deserter for 4 yrs he would be going through a court right about now and getting sentenced to levensworth for a very very long time. For all those people out there who are searching for answers on this exact problem, just because ppl say it can't happen it does happen and according to someone at Huachua this isn't the first time they messed this up there. Everything is about paperwork in the military and if all the T's aren't crossed with all the I's dotted it can happen. This turned out to be a blessing for us for many reasons. Keep your hope up.

This must be true, I mean you took all that time to write it on the internet.