Why are so many of the Army Soldiers going AWOL?
U.S. Army prosecutions of desertion and other unauthorized absences have risen sharply in the past four years, resulting in thousands more negative discharges and prison time for junior soldiers and combat-tested veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, military records show. The increased prosecutions are meant, in effect, to serve as a deterrent to a growing number of soldiers who might be looking for a way to avoid heading – or heading back – to Iraq, The use of courts-martial for these violations, which before 2002 were treated mostly as unpunished nuisances, is a sign that active-duty forces are being stretched to their limits, said military lawyers and mental health experts. “They are scraping to get people to go back, and people are worn out,” said Thomas Grieger, a senior Navy psychiatrist. Some soldiers are cutting of trigger fingers to keep from going back to Iraq said Thomas Grieger. They know the war is wrong and the USA is losing.
