Need help with army/AWOL

[sasuke07]

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

okay so here is the situation. On the 22nd of July. I will be finishing up my first week as an AWOL. I called the gi rights hotline before I went AWOL and they said pretty much wait till they drop you from the rolls, then go to fort sills to pcs out.

Now after going AWOL I find out I won't be pcs elligible cause my unit is deploying in afganistan in jan. (would it matter if they havnt even given us the order to deploy yet?) jrtc is gonna be in sept. So they probably won't recurve orders till after than as jrtc is kinda like the final test. If I was technically only with my company for 2 days would I still be pcs elligible cause I havnt technically recieved orders to deploy yet. And if I'm not what would the best way to get out of the army now. I called the gi rights hotline and they told me to get my family and friends to write letters as to why I'm not suited to be in the army. Stay away for like 60 to 90 days and then turn myself in at fort sill. So what do you guys think

[objetora]

Originally Posted by sasuke07

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

okay so here is the situation. On the 22nd of July. I will be finishing up my first week as an AWOL. I called the gi rights hotline before I went AWOL and they said pretty much wait till they drop you from the rolls, then go to fort sills to pcs out.

Now after going AWOL I find out I won't be pcs elligible cause my unit is deploying in afganistan in jan. (would it matter if they havnt even given us the order to deploy yet?) jrtc is gonna be in sept. So they probably won't recurve orders till after than as jrtc is kinda like the final test. If I was technically only with my company for 2 days would I still be pcs elligible cause I havnt technically recieved orders to deploy yet. And if I'm not what would the best way to get out of the army now. I called the gi rights hotline and they told me to get my family and friends to write letters as to why I'm not suited to be in the army. Stay away for like 60 to 90 days and then turn myself in at fort sill. So what do you guys think

It sounds like you're permanent party, so the discharge situation at the PCF (Ft. Sill or Ft. Knox) is not so simple. Only Soldiers who go AWOL from basic or AIT or who are permanent party but stationed OCONUS are likely to get the quick discharge in lieu of court-martial (Chapter 10 discharge) at Sill or Knox. The deployment orders can also be a problem: were they issued before you went AWOL? If so, that increases your risk of being charged with desertion (avoiding hazardous duty).

Letters from family and friends are not likely to help the situation much. What was your reason for going AWOL in the first place? If you had a valid reason for a discharge, that could help your case, but if so, it is possible that your best bet could be to turn yourself in before your AWOL gets to be too long and try for that discharge.

As a final note, I am a GI Rights Hotline counselor and the information that you report that you received from the GI Rights Hotline is so bad that it does not sound like anything that any counselor I know on the Hotline would give. It could be that you called the old number (800-etc.), which is no longer staffed by GI Rights Hotline counselors. If you want to try to make things better rather than worse, try the new number 877-447-4487.

[sasuke07]

I never actually got written orders to deploy. Just told that we were gonna deploy in January.

So pcs at fort sills or Knox is a dead end? Even if we were with our company for like 2 days total.

[objetora]

Yes, even with only 2 days there. It's not that Ft. Sill or Ft. Knox is a dead end, it's just that your chances are - wild guess here - 50-50 of getting the Chapter 10 there instead of being sent back to your unit if you go to the PCF after getting dropped from the rolls AND with a good explanation of why you went AWOL (such as severe harassment, medical issues that were not being addressed, severe family emergency for which you were denied leave, etc.)

Not having written orders helps your case. Your principal concern is avoiding a charge of desertion: either intent to stay away indefinitely or to avoid hazardous or important duty. The intent is important, so you would need a good explanation of your decision to good AWOL to defend yourself from that.

[Karnifex]

If you are belong to an Active Duty unit you will be returned to your unit. You will not go to a PCF.

If your unit has orders to deploy they can Drop you from the Rolls in 24 hours. They will not have to wait the full 30 days. That is assuming:

A) The unit knows to do that.
B) They actually did the paperwork correctly.

[rppearso]

Originally Posted by objetora

Yes, even with only 2 days there. It's not that Ft. Sill or Ft. Knox is a dead end, it's just that your chances are - wild guess here - 50-50 of getting the Chapter 10 there instead of being sent back to your unit if you go to the PCF after getting dropped from the rolls AND with a good explanation of why you went AWOL (such as severe harassment, medical issues that were not being addressed, severe family emergency for which you were denied leave, etc.)

Not having written orders helps your case. Your principal concern is avoiding a charge of desertion: either intent to stay away indefinitely or to avoid hazardous or important duty. The intent is important, so you would need a good explanation of your decision to good AWOL to defend yourself from that.

Has anyone ever asked the question what if you intent is to avoid haz duty?

[Karnifex]

Originally Posted by rppearso

Has anyone ever asked the question what if you intent is to avoid haz duty?

It is not a matter of anyone asking a person if they intend to avoid hazardous duty. The unit MUST have orders if they want to attempt to DFR a soldier the same day they went AWOL. It is a documentation thing. The FBI will not put a No Bond Felony Warrant out against an individual based on what somebody told somebody else. It must be in writing (i.e. deployment orders) or there is no probable cause.