help with awol

What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state? new york

I went awol around June 20th 2003 - before making this decision I went to my drill sgt and explained to him that I was not able to adapt to military life, after he explained to me that he " owned my ass " I then asked to speak to the chaplain, i waited for a month and my drill sgts gave me excuse after excuse as to why he hadnt come to see me. after realizing that they werent telling the chaplian that i wanted to see him I then went to the military liason and signed into his office - where i was told i could go to speak about getting discharged- he laughed and threw me out of the office telling me it was up to my drill sgt ( same one who told me he owned my ass so i knew that was going nowhere - now after exhausting all possibilities to get out the right way I went awol right after basic and before ait - I have now been awol ( deserter) for about a year and a half - i want to get this behind me but I am having difficulty finding out the safest route to take - if there is anyone who can offer advice please let me know as I intend to get this behind me as soon as possible - i was signed on for two years and my enlistment is up april 2005 - im 30 years old

No, your enlistment would have been up 4-05, you only went through basic. You need to turn yourself into the nearest base or even recruiter station. The longer you are AWOL the worse the consequences especially if they find you. Why do you want out? There has to be something more than not being able to adapt. What have you been doing in the mean time, you know you can't hide forever.

I LOST MY MOTHER WHEN I WAS 21 AND FOR YEARS MY LIFE HAD SUFFERED FROM THAT LOSS. I WAS UNSURE OF WHAT I WANTED TO DO WTIH MY LIFE AND THEN I TOOK THE NYPD TEST. I PASSED AND I RECEIVED MY LETTER TO CALL IN SO I DID - I FOUND OUT I NEEDED 60 COLLEGE CREDITS AND I ONLY HAD 30 OR SO. I SAW THAT 2 YEARS SERVICE WOULD REPLACE THAT AND THOUGHT THAT THIS MIGHT BE A WAY TO CHANGE MY LIFE. I WENT TO SPEAK TO A RECRUITER AND HE TOLD ME ALL OF THESE THINGS AND HE SAID THEM AS IF THEY ALL APPLIED TO ME - HE ALSO TOLD ME I WOULD BE ABLE TO GET A DISCHARGE FROM THE ARMY IF I COULD NOT ADAPT TO MILITARY LIFE. I BOUGHT THAT BULLSH*T AND SIGNED ON FIGURING WHATS THE WORST THAT COULD HAPPEN ? I COULD ALWAYS GET OUT IF ITS NOT FOR ME, AND HERE WE ARE TODAY. MY FATHER HAS HAD HEART PROBLEMS AND LAST YEAR HAD A TRIPLE BYPASS AND NOW HE LIVES IN FLORIDA. I NEEDED TO BE THERE TO HELP HIM DURING HIS TIME OF RECOVERY AND NOW THAT HE IS BACK ON TRACK I WANT TO BE AS WELL. IS THERE ANYONE I COULD CALL TO FIND OUT THE CHARGES AGAINST ME? IS THERE SOMEONE WHO I COULD CALL TO HELP ME WITH MY SURRENDER. I JUST DONT WANT TO MAKE ANY MORE MISTAKES - AS FAR AS RECRUITERS GO - I DONT TRUST THEM AT ALL SO I CANT SURRENDER TO THEM - IWAS THINKING OF GOING TO A LOCAL POLICE STATION DO YOU THINK THATS A GOOD IDEA. ALSO IS THERE A WAY FOR ME TO CONTACT A JAG ATTORNEY BEFORE I SURRENDER THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME IN THIS MATTER

FL
call the fed. deserters hotline 502 62 3717
this is a govt maintained facility that will run your SSN and see if they have received your "packet" and if a fed. warrant for your arrest has been issued.

you can mask your phone # if you are leery by dialing *67 before you dial them. I have found them to be nice ladies who just give out info

some people us GI RIGHTS hotline, which is NOT maintained by the govt. I don't put alot of stock in what they tell you. For instance, they told me that NO ONE who is just AWOL gets prosecuted. NO ONE. JAG at the base I am interested in provided me with information much to the contrary. They maintain a website.

JAG guys are too busy to crystal ball your situation over the phone. Its hard enough to get a walk in appt with them .Try calling the MP station at a post and finding out what the sequence of events would be

Here is a link that lists a directory so you can find the closest military base, however I believe you can turn yourself into a police station and they will contact the military. I have a feeling there is more to your story, my suggestion is that you be honest with how chaotic your life is, it is possible that you were not adapting to military life, however you should have at least gone through AIT and it would have been easier to to get a discharge. I also feel that even though you passed the test for the NYPD that possibly wasn't a good choice either. http://www.globemaster.de/regbases.html

I Have To Agree With You That The Nypd Was Not The Best Choice For Me. I Have Tried To Call The Hotline And I Havent Gotten An Answer As Of Yet. I Have Another Question, Is It Better For Me To Go Back In With An Attorney Or Not? Also What Are My Chances Of Being Recycled Back In Against My Will.

Sorry i posted an incomplete/incorrect phone number for Fed. Deserters Hotline. Personally, i would bank more on what they tell you then the GI rights people. Fed. Deserters hours are 8-5 central time, i think 502 626 3722.
From what I have read, at this site and others, combined with what JAG and civilians attys have told me, the sequence of events is: return to military control, they decide if they are going to charge you or just discharge you, if they charge you, THEN they assign you a military lawyer and you also are given the opp. to have an atty of your choice (civilian or spec. circumstances military...like if your brother is a JAG officer) Civilian atty is very expensive, to say the least. Hope you've been pulling down big bucks this last 18 mnths while you were AWOL.
Lastly, please disabuse yourself of the notion that they are going to be moved to tears about your story about the loss of your mother and your fathers illness. While these occurences are personally calamitous, they aren't any different from what happens in the lives of many other soldiers....other soldiers have problems too, some bigger than yours. They hammer away at the chain of command until they get an answer OR they just soldier on.