Awol

When a member of the Army National Guard is AWOL, or absent without leave, he has broken the law. An AWOL national guardsman faces serious consequences when caught, including incarceration. Friends and family can even be prosecuted if they assisted the national guardsman to go or stay AWOL. If a guardsman is AWOL during active training, the punishment he receives, if any, is at the discretion of his commanding officer. The CO will consider whether the guardsman was notified in sufficient time to participate in training, was absent for an emergency or compelling reasons, and aware of when training was to be concluded. The CO may base punishment on how long the guardsman was absent as well as his overall attendance and performance while present for training. If a guardsman is AWOL from active duty for 30 days or more, he may be deemed a deserter and a warrant issued for his arrest. He may also be dropped from the active duty rolls, known as DFR. Potential punishments, whether AWOL from training or active duty, include being reassigned or separated from the National Guard; kept on active duty and punished in accordance with Manual for Courts-Martial, which includes confinement, forfeiture of pay and allowances, and dishonorable or bad conduct discharge; or given non-judicial punishment under Article 15 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, including assigned extra duty and rank reduction. AWOL guardsmen may also be punished under state law. This offense hurts the soldiers family more then the soldier him/herself. The family is the one who receives phone calls asking where you are. They are subject to accessory if they hide you. They are the ones who feel the hurt if you are put in jail. When you lose your pay they will feel the blunt of it. You may find a job after you go AWOL, but sooner or later that warrant will catch up with you and you will be forced to do things you do not want to do. You will be yanked from the new life you built and your family is