Expert: Aaron Shifferly - 11/29/2009

Question
my husband is currently awol and probly considered a deserter by now. but he plans on returning to his post after the first of the year. he is in jail right now for an unrelated charge and will be untill the end of december. he was arrested in april for desertion and left before they decided what to do with him. it is kinda my fault he left again. i got pregnant in june and was in and out of ers for the first four months of it. and now we are terrified that when he goes back they will throw him straight in jail and he wont be there for the birth of our first child in march. is there anyone i can call to get informaiton on what the best course of action would be for us to take to try and save him from years in prison?

Answer
According to the UCMJ, the governing rules and laws of the military, if your husband has been AWOL for more than 30 days he is considered a deserter.  This is a federal felony and he will be processed as such and that conviction will be on his record forever.  He may or may not be sentenced to jail time depending on the circumstances surrounding his desertion and his subsequent return to the military.  If he is in jail currently, there's a high chance that the civilian authorities know he's a deserter and plan to return him to the military when he's finished his sentence there. If this isn't the case he should immediately turn himself in to lessen the impending punishment.