Need Help!! Husband Is Awol From Ait

[Tinker1077]

What is the name of your state? Michigan

My husband is Awol from AIT at Fort Lee. When he graduated BCT, he never reported back to base on the night of the ceremony at Fort Jackson. He said that he made a mistake, and while in BCT seen a counselor there many times. for depression and suicide, and was ignored. He wants to come home to be there for the birth of our first child, and then wants to be discharged, when should he turn himself in, and where. THank you !!!!! He says that if he has to stay he will kill himself. I need help PLEASE!!

[seniorjudge]

Originally Posted by Tinker1077

What is the name of your state? Michigan

My husband is Awol from AIT at Fort Lee. When he graduated BCT, he never reported back to base on the night of the ceremony at Fort Jackson. He said that he made a mistake, and while in BCT seen a counselor there many times. for depression and suicide, and was ignored. He wants to come home to be there for the birth of our first child, and then wants to be discharged, when should he turn himself in, and where. THank you !!!!! He says that if he has to stay he will kill himself. I need help PLEASE!!

Why won't he surrender?

Your husband was only in Ait, he needs to wait 30 days and call the deserter hotline to see if he is dropped from the rolls(DFR) and that also means there is a warrant for his arrst. The number is 1-502-626-3711. If he is not dfr, then wait until he his, some people say it takes 45 days or even 60. If and when is he is dfr, then he should take a bus to fort sill and tell the mp's at the front gate he is awol, they will cuff him which is procedure and take him to the PCF building where he will be discharged most likely with a " oth" which is an other than honorable. If he gets there on a monday or tuesday he will most likely be sent home by friday. Now the negatives of a oth, are you cannot get federal loans, cant ever reenlist in the military and it looks bad to employers. now anything is possible in the army, but most likely that is what will happen. The army does not have a lot of time or money invested, they will just send him on his way. He could a an entry level seperation too b/c he has not graduated from ait. call the G.I rights hotline 1-800-394-9544. They are peace activist who understand military law and procedure. They are on your side, call the number. You dont even have to give them you name, just explain the situation and they will help you, and most likely explain the 30 days and dfr and going to fort sill. The chances of your husband going to jail are about as good as the world ending yesterday, so dont worry. If you read other post put up here on this site previously, there is quit a few people who turned themselves into fort sill and left in a couple days. He should take a bus, so he does not take a chance of getting pulled over and picked up the police, that would just slow things down. But at the same time, the police or mps will not be knocking on your door looking for him, army does not have the money or resources to track down awol soldiers. There will be alot of people who respond to what you wrote with a lot of negativity, b/c a lot of people hate the idea of awol. well im not advising you that it is good, im explaining whats most likely gonna happen now that he already went awol. Do not forgot to call the G.I rights hotline number and remember you dont turn yourself in after 30 days, you start calling to see if he is DFR after 30 days and then turn himself in. One thing i know everyone will agree on that reads this is that running is the worst thing he can do, once he is dfr, he must turnhimself in.

Originally Posted by Tinker1077

What is the name of your state? Michigan

My husband is Awol from AIT at Fort Lee. When he graduated BCT, he never reported back to base on the night of the ceremony at Fort Jackson. He said that he made a mistake, and while in BCT seen a counselor there many times. for depression and suicide, and was ignored. He wants to come home to be there for the birth of our first child, and then wants to be discharged, when should he turn himself in, and where. THank you !!!!! He says that if he has to stay he will kill himself. I need help PLEASE!!

Depression is REAL. Yes it is true that normally AWOL soldiers are dropped from the rolls after 30 days but that is not written in stone.

Yes it is true that there is a good chance that he will be discharge OTH however that is also not written in stone.

Be proactive about this and convince him to turn himself in and get the medical attention he needs and document EVERYTHING. The more documents and signed statements he can muster from fellow service members, doctors, clergy etc. will ultimatlely help him get the best possible discharge and outcome from this situation.

The military is an institution that works on policy, procedure and law. Learn to work with it
so you get the best situation for you and your family. What seems like an easy way out now may be something you're going to regret later.

As far as he says he will kill himself: Have you asked him if he cares about how that will effect his unborn child and you? Obviously you are the one that will have to step up to the plate and handle this. Good luck and I am sorry you have to deal with this.

[rmet4nzkx]

He should turn himself into a VA hospital if he is suicidal, they will get the records of his counseling. He won't be the first or last father to be away for the birth of their child.

Originally Posted by rmet4nzkx

He should turn himself into a VA hospital if he is suicidal, they will get the records of his counseling. He won't be the first or last father to be away for the birth of their child.

For sure for sure... Good advice. I wasn't going add to that but felt compelled to say "not seeing you child born is a whole lot better than not being around to take care of him/her"

[Tinker1077]

Thank you for the information that you have given me. It is much appreciated. I understand that some of you look on this as being negative, but we have all made mistakes in life, and have made bad choices. He joined for entirely the wrong reasons, and was promised that he would not go to war. He is not the type that could harm another human, and if he had to, he surely may as well die while hes there too. I am sure there are a lot of people who can relate to that. Then there are others who that would not bother at all, or who may actually enjoy it. I do not approve of the way that recruiters are lying to enlist. I just hope that that he does not get sent to jail or prison. The birth of our child he was told he would be able to come home, by his recruiter, and yet the Army says NO! I feel for all of you who have ever made the choice of joining the army, and then decided you needed out. I realize that there are other ways of attempting to get out, but most of them are denied due to the fact that the army needs more soldiers. What is the maximum punishment that you think he may endure? Thank you for all your replies.

He is not gonna go to jail, and the most severe punishment he will probaly endure is an administrtive discharge( oth), as explained before, but as pizza guy said, nothing is guranteed, just most likely. call the gi rights hotline tommorrow, you will feel more confident about what i said after talking to them.

[badapple40]

I don't think its safe to guarantee to the OP that he won't go to jail. He might go to jail -- it is a possibility. I think it has only about a 1% chance of happening, we should put all the facts out there.

[Tinker1077]

Thank you once again for your replies. It really helps. This is a tough situation to deal with, and yet I havent called the GI Rights yet, I plan too. If you dont mind me asking revere and badapple where do you get your information from. Have either one of you been through this, or maybe are in the military yourselves? Thank you

Bad apple is a retired military lawyer, who has a lot of knowledge, and he is right...there is that 1 percent chance or small chance of jail, but is probaly unlikely. The reason i dont put that he definately wont is b/c there is always a chance. I get my knowledge by just doing my homework, im no lawyer or expert and i will never claim to be.

[badapple40]

I'm not retired. I'm a reservist, a former appellate defense attorney (among other prior assignments), and current staff judge advocate for a reserve wing.

I've got a good 10 years before I retire.

sorry bad apple, for some reason i thought you were retired. I did not mean any dis respect.

[Tinker1077]

I am not sure when he should turn himself in. Our child is not due for 7 more weeks, and I am sure he will have a warrant out by then. They have not contacted me at all. Will they contact other family members? I'm just not sure what information to give him.

[8629]

im assuming hes army if so, have him turn himself in at least aprox 2 months after he has left to, ft sill, in oklahoma. they have an awol outprocessing unit there, and assuming his unit doesnt want him back (i.e. 2 months), his unit will send sill his papers and hed be released in about a week. THIS IS ASSUMING HIS UNIT DOES NOT WANT HIM BACK, usually after about 2 months his unit should loose interest.