Going awol from basic training?

[mm2011]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Missouri
What would happen if i went awol before graduating basic training from the army? Is it true about being gone long enough to be dropped from the rolls and turning yourself at ft.sill and getting a discharge? Would there be any jail time if i turned myself in? Would i need to get a lawyer and would it help me get discharged? How accurate is the gi rights hotline? Also what would happen if i went on my 36 hour leave before graduation and came back with drugs in my system? Would they drug test me and give me jail time or just discharge me? Im having alot of issues at home and i need to get discharged to be able to deal with this. Thank you

 

[Marine Seagull]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Missouri
What would happen if i went awol before graduating basic training from the army? Is it true about being gone long enough to be dropped from the rolls and turning yourself at ft.sill and getting a discharge? Would there be any jail time if i turned myself in? Would i need to get a lawyer and would it help me get discharged? How accurate is the gi rights hotline? Also what would happen if i went on my 36 hour leave before graduation and came back with drugs in my system? Would they drug test me and give me jail time or just discharge me? Im having alot of issues at home and i need to get discharged to be able to deal with this. Thank you

NO NO NO. You need to tell you chain of command you want out and that you made a mistake enlisting. You will want to talk to the chaplain and a doctor too.

You will likely never be able to join again, so don't think the passage of time after you solve your personal problems will make them let you back in. You may also be stigmatized by a vague description of why you were discharged from the army, something like failure to adapt or something that makes you look like a wimp or whiner to future employers, nothing good.


No the Army will not just discharge and forget about you if you disappear on them. If you go AWOL or do drugs you’re setting yourself up for a court martial, time in the brig, and a lesser discharge that could stay with you for the rest of your life.


If you are within your first 180 days of service you should be eligible for an uncharacterized discharge, but you will need to communicate how you are unable to adapt to the Army lifestyle by requesting mast with the CO, not by going UA/AWOL or doing drugs.

Or maybe a hardship discharge because of your personal problems, but violations of the UCMJ are not the answer.

Be ready for some verbal backlash, it’s likely they will be displeased with you. Your recruiter was supposed to vet you out before you even got this far in the process, so it is reasonable to think that you mislead your recruiter so you could enlist.

It seem like a very short time for you to already be having problems, are you always this short sighted about huge decisions? I mean wasn’t it only like a month or two ago you were all motivated and proud to be going. In the Army or not you’re going to have personal problems in your life and your going to have to deal with them along with all your other commitments , you just can't always run away, at least not without consequences.


Whoever it is that needs your help and needs for you to get out of the Army to solve their problems might want to call your CO to explain their dire situation and how it can only be alleviated by your presents.


Good luck.

 

[ERAUPIKE]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Missouri
What would happen if i went awol before graduating basic training from the army?

You would be discharged from the Army and barred from reenlistment. You may receive an ELS (Entry Level Separation) but that is not guaranteed.

Is it true about being gone long enough to be dropped from the rolls and turning yourself at ft.sill and getting a discharge?

Yes, if you go AWOL and are DFR then you will have to find a way to Ft Sill to obtain your discharge. If you are caught by civilian authorities before you decide to turn yourself in there may be more dire consequences for you.

Would there be any jail time if i turned myself in?

There is the possibility that you could see some jail time but nobody knows what will happen in your particular situation.

Would i need to get a lawyer and would it help me get discharged?

Probably not, but you may need to obtain some sort of legal representation.

How accurate is the gi rights hotline?

I have heard that they provide the same information you find in this forum.

Also what would happen if i went on my 36 hour leave before graduation and came back with drugs in my system?

You will be in violation of the UCMJ and you will be subsequently prosecuted.

Would they drug test me and give me jail time or just discharge me?

After you go AWOL you will be drug tested, you do not want to test positive for drugs.

Im having alot of issues at home and i need to get discharged to be able to deal with this. Thank you

The Army has other avenues to help you take care of any situations you may have going on in your life.

 

[thekman]

READ THIS!!!!!!!!

Hi I just got back from ft sill on friday after being awol for 60 days I left from ait. If you leave from basic or ait this process works for you but if you were a perm party soldier it will not work. If you go awol and stay long enough to be dfr'd which you can call the dip to confirm, just turn yourself into ft sill preferably on a monday or tuesday morning and you will be out by friday no jail time no punishment no harrasment. I just got back and believe me I couldn't believe how well they treated us. You keep your cell phone on you at all times and most time is passed in the day room talking to peeps, playing board games, or watching tv. This place seems like its too good to be true but believe me it's not. easiest 4 days of my life and this whole ordeal is solved.

 

[ERAUPIKE]

READ THIS!!!!!!!!

Hi I just got back from ft sill on friday after being awol for 60 days I left from ait. If you leave from basic or ait this process works for you but if you were a perm party soldier it will not work. If you go awol and stay long enough to be dfr'd which you can call the dip to confirm, just turn yourself into ft sill preferably on a monday or tuesday morning and you will be out by friday no jail time no punishment no harrasment. I just got back and believe me I couldn't believe how well they treated us. You keep your cell phone on you at all times and most time is passed in the day room talking to peeps, playing board games, or watching tv. This place seems like its too good to be true but believe me it's not. easiest 4 days of my life and this whole ordeal is solved.

Wait 180 days and then post how your administrative discharge has impacted your life.

 

[Marine Seagull]

Think twice before jumping!!!

READ THIS!!!!!!!!

Hi I just got back from ft sill on friday after being awol for 60 days I left from ait. If you leave from basic or ait this process works for you but if you were a perm party soldier it will not work. If you go awol and stay long enough to be dfr'd which you can call the dip to confirm, just turn yourself into ft sill preferably on a monday or tuesday morning and you will be out by friday no jail time no punishment no harrasment. I just got back and believe me I couldn't believe how well they treated us. You keep your cell phone on you at all times and most time is passed in the day room talking to peeps, playing board games, or watching tv. This place seems like its too good to be true but believe me it's not. easiest 4 days of my life and this whole ordeal is solved.

FYI
180 days wait is a start, but you will have your whole life time to regret your decisions if the first 180 days isn’t sufficient.

What was your discharge characterization? While you may be immediately satisfied to be discharged from the army, I suspect you will regret your decision in the future. At the very least you will be limited in career choices and future embarrassment from people who inquire about your service.

Every case is different, you may get off easy as thekman claims he did, or your commanding officer could go bananas and throw the book at you.
However it may go for you. Don't be fooled it won't be all Lilly white and clean.

The description thekman gives of Ft. Sill may be accurate, but it still sounds like a description of jail. They don't do anything but sit around and watch TV because they can't be trusted. A working party picking up trash sounds like the guys on the side of the highway sentenced to community service, not like the treatment honorable veterans have earned.

Once again I will go back to, you will have challenges all your life and you will have to deal with the challenges and your commitments at the same time. Not to mention you’re not just hurting yourself you’re hurting your family. Your bringing dishonor home and if you have kids your taking away their benefits they would have if you had served with honor, AND SO MUCH MORE!

 

[ShortFuse]

Awol

Look Here...All this non sense about not being able to get a good job cause of going awol and getting a OTH discharge is completely FALSE! I went awol in 2007 during AIT and did my 90 awol, then to KNOX for a week, and discharged OTH. Since then I have had no job turn me down for this. I since have been employed with a couple seperate law enforcement agencies. It does not even show up on my background check unless what you apply for requires security clearence on a fed level. If you want out and leave then you will be fine. Dont be fooled by all the lies of going to prison, or not ever being able to find a good job. Most of the time you will find that most people could care less, and the few that do most likely had never been in themselves. Hope this helps with that fear that the army places in everyones head.

 

[ShortFuse]

Wait 180 days and then post how your administrative discharge has impacted your life.

Dont listen to Eraupike or Marine Seagull... They have no clue about what they are talking about. Ran across this post again and thats just wrong what they are telling you. Many people have issues going on their life or just are not made for the "No control of your life" that you are issued. ERAUPIKE states how it will impact a life negatively but thats not true at all. Since I was given my OTH discharge 4-5 years ago, life has been great. I know for a fact that if I was to have stayed in that I would have got out not to long ago and been right back at the same place before the military, no skills, no job except holding a good discharge paper. I dont mean to bash because I do support the military, I have donated to military families during the past two x-mas and bought school supplies for military kids for the past two years. All I am trying to get across is that its just not for some people out there and you dont have to live being miserable or being insulted or put down by people like them because they dont know and dont care what your reason is.

 

[ERAUPIKE]

Dont listen to Eraupike or Marine Seagull... They have no clue about what they are talking about. Ran across this post again and thats just wrong what they are telling you. Many people have issues going on their life or just are not made for the "No control of your life" that you are issued. ERAUPIKE states how it will impact a life negatively but thats not true at all. Since I was given my OTH discharge 4-5 years ago, life has been great. I know for a fact that if I was to have stayed in that I would have got out not to long ago and been right back at the same place before the military, no skills, no job except holding a good discharge paper. I dont mean to bash because I do support the military, I have donated to military families during the past two x-mas and bought school supplies for military kids for the past two years. All I am trying to get across is that its just not for some people out there and you dont have to live being miserable or being insulted or put down by people like them because they dont know and dont care what your reason is.

If it isn't true at all then why do so many people come to this forum to find out how to upgrade their discharge? Your experience may differ than many others and you can not base your advice alone on the esoteric reality you may now live in. Why have you worked for "a couple different law enforcement agencies" in the past four years? Do you have trouble holding down a job? Did you lie on your application?

 

[Marine Seagull]

Dont listen to Eraupike or Marine Seagull... They have no clue about what they are talking about. Ran across this post again and thats just wrong what they are telling you. Many people have issues going on their life or just are not made for the "No control of your life" that you are issued. ERAUPIKE states how it will impact a life negatively but thats not true at all. Since I was given my OTH discharge 4-5 years ago, life has been great. I know for a fact that if I was to have stayed in that I would have got out not to long ago and been right back at the same place before the military, no skills, no job except holding a good discharge paper. I dont mean to bash because I do support the military, I have donated to military families during the past two x-mas and bought school supplies for military kids for the past two years. All I am trying to get across is that its just not for some people out there and you dont have to live being miserable or being insulted or put down by people like them because they dont know and dont care what your reason is.

I'm not putting anybody down for having problems.

You will have to sleep in the bed you make for yourself. Shortfuse is advising you to break the law by going AWOL. Breaking the law has consequences (sometimes big ones). I'm suggesting you do what you agreed to do when you signed the enlistment contract and took your oath, and if you have a problem fulfilling your enlistment contract breaking the law is not the answer. If you do go AWOL be prepared for the possible consequences.

You must not blame others for your own short falls. If YOU have problems then it is up to YOU to fix them. The Army doesn’t hand out lack of skills, that’s something somebody brings upon themselves or refuses to lift themselves up from.

Yes, serving is changeling and there will be times you think you can’t handle it, but you knew that before you signed up for an enlistment. Frankly, going AWOL will only make any situation worse. It will not put you in any better bargaining vantage with the military and as a matter of fact it will only make you venerable to criminal legal proceedings.

Not to mention all the people who do the right thing and get honorable discharges, get rewarded in very unique ways. VA benefits, education benefits, education benefits for your children, health, loan, etc. PRIDE IS A HUGH BENEFIT; I have the self confidence of a Marine who finished his 8 year enlistment with Honor. Plus the people you will be letting down, parents, children (future ones too), and everybody else you told you were joining the army basically.

When I enlisted I had no I ideal it would be so challenging, but I wasn’t lied to, I was just a kid who didn’t realize what I was getting into. But I could read what my contract said and I completed my enlistment. I can tell you there were some who fell short and I’m sure they are missing something that I have gained by finishing my enlistment with honor.

If your only aim is to get out no matter what the cost, then do what you will. When you look back on it you will think “I could have done it.”.
What were you thinking when you first signed up? Were you thinking it would be like The Family Guy parody of the Army and it recruiting style?

 

[thekman]

Wait 180 days and then post how your administrative discharge has impacted your life.

thought i would check up on this post to see how it went for you and came across this nice little comment. He obviously has no idea what an OTH discharge really means because if he did he would know that employers can't access your military records and that if you don't disclose that you were ever in the service, they won't know.

oh and btw I don't need to wait 180 days to post how it impacted me,because it hasn't even been 2 months and ive already returned to work as a paramedic for the state of NY. So you can go write your condescending comments elsewhere.

 

[thekman]

Wait 180 days and then post how your administrative discharge has impacted your life.

thought i would check up on this post to see how it went for you and came across this nice little comment. He obviously has no idea what an OTH discharge really means because if he did he would know that employers can't access your military records and that if you don't disclose that you were ever in the service, they won't know.

oh and btw I don't need to wait 180 days to post how it impacted me,because it hasn't even been 2 months and ive already returned to work as a paramedic for the state of NY. So you can go write your condescending comments elsewhere.

 

[ERAUPIKE]

thought i would check up on this post to see how it went for you and came across this nice little comment. He obviously has no idea what an OTH discharge really means because if he did he would know that employers can't access your military records and that if you don't disclose that you were ever in the service, they won't know.

oh and btw I don't need to wait 180 days to post how it impacted me,because it hasn't even been 2 months and ive already returned to work as a paramedic for the state of NY. So you can go write your condescending comments elsewhere.

I know that lying on an application is not advisable. Although your records will not be disclosed by the armed forces, the fact you have served will show up on a background check. Why don't you try the same thing another 120 days from now.

 

[kristen344]

awol

here is how it goes after 30 days or so go to ft. sill. any base will do just don't go back to the one you went awol from. you will be a hold over. any base you can get to, HAS to pay for your travel to ft sill. there is also a base in Kentucky you can go to as well, not sure the name of that base .. anyho once you get there just tell the mp's that you are awol they will take you to a barracks and issue you a uniform. IT'S not like jail at all. infact the officers there are actually quite friendly, and understanding. at any given time there are 2 to 12 people in there process of getting discharged out its actually like being in boot camp again except no one yells at you, and you don't have to exercise. the prosses will take 1 to 2 weeks depeding on how many people are there. if you do happen to be there longer than a month they have to start paying you again.. they also ask you if you want to stay in soo there is always that option too ..
all in all you will leave with just a slap on the hand and an other than honorable discharge which for me I have had no problems getting a job going to school etc.. it's never been an issue for me. i'm glad i got out when i did.
i hope this helps and i really hope you find your true calling in life this is just a minor bump for you!

 

[Proserpina]

here is how it goes after 30 days or so go to ft. sill. any base will do just don't go back to the one you went awol from. you will be a hold over. any base you can get to, HAS to pay for your travel to ft sill. there is also a base in Kentucky you can go to as well, not sure the name of that base .. anyho once you get there just tell the mp's that you are awol they will take you to a barracks and issue you a uniform. IT'S not like jail at all. infact the officers there are actually quite friendly, and understanding. at any given time there are 2 to 12 people in there process of getting discharged out its actually like being in boot camp again except no one yells at you, and you don't have to exercise. the prosses will take 1 to 2 weeks depeding on how many people are there. if you do happen to be there longer than a month they have to start paying you again.. they also ask you if you want to stay in soo there is always that option too ..
all in all you will leave with just a slap on the hand and an other than honorable discharge which for me I have had no problems getting a job going to school etc.. it's never been an issue for me. i'm glad i got out when i did.
i hope this helps and i really hope you find your true calling in life this is just a minor bump for you!

kristen - please don't necropost.

Thanks.