Okay, this will probably be the last bit of info I could possibly give you.
Judging from your letters the guy is in AIT, his Drills should be stepping in to help him, and if they arn't it tells me that he isn't being seen as a "great" soldier. This doesn't mean he isn't, but drills are not heartless, they were once soldiers too. They are still NCO's who live by the NCO Creed. Their obligation to the U.S. Army is to make damn sure that all soldiers assigned underneath them are 100% ready-to-go at the drop of the hat, and that they have no problems that prevent them from being present for duty/ies.
Now it may very well be that "Josh" has gotten a little unmotivated with the Army, and has started to "Ride profile." I don't know the guy, I'm not there, so I could be wrong, but an NCO's job is to HELP SOLDIERS, not hinder. They may not just give him all their time and resources if they are unsatisfied with his performance. Now you said that you and your Husband both want him out of the service, I can almost guarantee he has become completely complacent and is spending more energy trying to get out than stay in. And if he could care so little for his military career, would you suppose that many others would either?
Disenfranching oneself with the army is one thing, and I believe your husband has done this. This is not to say he is worthless or the like, but that he should not expect everyone to hand walk documents around post, or bow out and give him everything that he FEELS he deserves. I saw it a million times in my time in the service. If a soldier becomes complacent and starts riding profile, nagging/whining and becoming more of a hinderance than anything else, then noones going to expedite anything. If Josh isn't giving the army 100%, IN ANYwAY he can, why should he expect the army give him 100%. The army may have obligations to a soldier, but a soldier has obligations to the army. This is not a one sided affair, it's a give and take relationship. You better believe they're going to do the work. But they are going to make it LAST priority.
Please understand I am not blasting on your husband, I don't know the particulars. I want to get you in the frame of mind you should be in for this situation, and explain the possible outlook the army (Josh's command) has on it. Sometimes people forget what the Army is, it is not some mystical force with a man draped in robes, it's PEOPLE. Regular joe smoes that did bct and operate a little higher than most civilians. It's family guys/gals. It's people. and people are knovn to take matters to heart. I would bet money they feel your husband is spending more time trying to get out than stay in. They are not obligated to help someone get out. They are obligated to help soldier's stay prepared and stay army. And if your husband doesn't want to do that, then he's on his own getting stuff done.
And talks of Awol, no matter how "slight" of an infraction you may think it to be, are going to dick him. A person is awol if their duty is at 10am and they arn't there at 10am and knew to be there at 10am. That is the cut and dry, punishable version. Does it matter if it was intentional? no. Does it make it worse if it was intentional? yes.
“Any member of the armed forces who, without authority—
(1) fails to go to his appointed place of duty at the time prescribed; (2) goes from that place; or (3) absents himself or remains absent from his unit, organization, or place of duty at which he is required to be at the time prescribed; shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.”
b. Elements.
(1) Failure to go to appointed place of duty.
(a) That a certain authority appointed a certain time and place of duty for the accused;
(b) That the accused knew of that time and place; and
(c) That the accused, without authority, failed to go to the appointed place of duty at the time prescribed.
Again please understand that I am trying to help you. I would believe your husband is looked at with tiring eyes, and if he starts messing around it's going to compound the situation. I can somewhat understand where his thoughts are, I was tired of the army at one point too, and that's one thing. Your husband, if able to hang in there, is going to probably get lucky and sooner or later get his medical discharge, and have no problems. But if he starts ****ing up, pardon my french, they are going to get even more tired of him, he's going to get even more tired of the army, and it's going to be an endless cycle with him on the losing side.
Your husband needs to present that he is going to give 100% to the last. Not be like "oh i don't care anymore, yada yada yada." Look AIT isn't "The army." You guys arn't living together yet. Yes it sucks in training because it's not "The army" yet. well maybe you are for an extended ait, i can't remember, but I don't think they give housing to guys in IET. But if he's able to tough it out, trust me it will get better. He'll be able to see his son, and you, and you can see him. IET sucks, and your husband hurt himself at a time that really sucks. But the situation is probably not as bad as the two of you contend, and, I'm sorry, but I'm assuming he is making harder. But again if he starts messing around going awol for that, or that. Stops following orders, and trust me that's the next step he's going to go to, it's just going to compound stuff.
It's possible that nobody thinks the injury is all that bad. If he can work through it he could go onto a sucessful career. If not, he can only make it worse. If I'm seriously wrong then he should go speak to TDS, problem is, and it sucks but it's true, most of the TDS officers are fresh out of the system, never taken anything to case and try to deal with issues at the lowest form possible. They are notorious for advising soldiers not to fight anything, even when maybe it could be argued they are not entirely at fault. That's the cold, hard truth. There is also the possiblity of IG, inspector general, but I'm not sure they would do all that much. again, no one can refuse your husband medical or legal care/advice. If they are trying to he needs to remain EXTREAMLY polite, respectful and with tact stay firm in his opinion. But if he's trying to use a small pain in his back to get out of the army, then he needs to understand that they know/believe he's trying to do that, and it's going to happen just not when HE feels it should happen, speed wise.
Look, your about to have a new baby, you need all the help you can get. Your husband needs to stay in, for as long as he can. He doesn't need to get into trouble and get out on a bad note. It may sound harsh, but sometimes to provide for a family, you can't see them all the time. You don't think missing births, birthdays, baseball games, parties, etcetc happens in the civil side too? It happens, just not so much in the military. In all honesty, Josh needs to do what he can to stay in. Your husbands first priority needs to be maintaining security, financial or otherwise, for his family.
To sum up:
He's going to get into trouble if he continues on the train of thought he's in.
Your husband is in IET, this is not permanant party, this is not "The army."
He doesn't need to go awol, for anything or any amount of time. (cold hard truth)
And while I'm sure you may think this is the worst possible thing that could happen, it's not.
He just hurt himself at a time when the MAIN PRIORITY is getting soldiers out of the training process, not out of the army.
An NCO's job is to Train, motivate, and rehabilitate, whether that soldier wants it or not is not the object. They may feel his injury is so slight, it's not something to contend with. They honestly don't want to see him get thrown out and become a slump. Your husband needs to realize they REALLY are looking out for his best interests IN THE ARMY. They want to see him have a sucessful career. and they are going to remain in that mindset until the very last, only Josh can **** it up.
You need to encourage your husband to stay in, bust his ass, give 110%, not go awol, no matter how much YOU want him too, BE PATIENT, and let the system work the problem.
Look I really am trying to help you out, I hate to see someone in a bad situation, but I'm assuming your husband may be making it alot worse. I hope all goes well, give it a little bit more time, you and your husband need to get out of the "The Army is the worst thing ever" mindset you are in. I guarantee, no other civil company is going to pay medical bills as early as IET. And know that if he stays in, it will get better.
