my husband survived going to parris island and then his school of infintry...but its when he got to the fleet that all his problems began...he was placed in a platoon where all the lance corprals thought that they were gods or something, because they would haze the privates "boots or Jews"...which my husband was at the time. And a couple of incidences happened where over half of the Lance Corprals got sent to the brig for the hazing and beating up of the "boots" and the Lance Corprals that were left and didnt get sentenced to the brig said that they were going to make the "boots" life there a living hell for the remaining time that they were enlisted....so the threat realy got to my husband and he was in fear so he desided to leave or go awoll...so the first time he left, he packed up our stuff and we went back to GA and he stayed gone for 28 days and then decided to go back...but when he returned nothing happened to him at all and he wasnt punished at all...so after talking to some people who went awoll before he heard that if he actually stays gone long enough to be considered awoll and then turns himself into the regular police that he would just have to spend 30 days in the brig and then get court marshalled and be discharged with an "other than honarabel" discharge. So is this plan 100%...or should he have not listened to those other people that told him to do that? he has already been in the brig for going on 3 weeks now and he hasnt been able to give me any phone call or anything...is that normal? Are they not alowwed to make phone calls or write letters while they are in the brig?? Did he make a mistake by going awol? i mean he didnt realy want to become a marine untill he was convinced by a recruiter....which the recruiter had lied to him and tricked him into joining...so for all you haters out there that call him a ***** or a coward or whatever...dont judge him cause he was lied into joining...he was going in for mp and he ended up getting infantry! Its a very hard lifestyle to get into especially if your in a realtionship, and he thought by going awol it would help our life for the better as well. And i just want whats best for him. So please dont judge him...please just help us by answering my questions please. The Call to Arms Has Sounded, but for Love of Peace, or Fear of ::
The prospects are bleak: Going AWOL is punishable by up to three years' imprisonment, 'I will give my life to defend my way of life,' " he says.
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He's a deserter in times of war.
Get over it, IF the recruiter lied (a lot of recruits suffer from "selective hearing"), it's still a free country and he didn't have to sign up.
Husband says: Recruiters lie, it's a part of the deal. Going AWOL was a big mistake. Both times. And you're probably not going to hear from him while he's in the brig. They don't exactly have luxuries in the brig.
Bottom line is... He went AWOL, not once, but twice. Now he's going to have to deal with the consequences.
He's going to have to answer for what he did. Nobody is going to care what he was told and who told it to him. They might act on his charges of hazing, but that won't get him any slack.
Yes, it's normal that he can't call you from the brig. You can write him and he can write you, however.
You can expect him to serve about 90 to 180 days in the brig and get a OTH, BCD or Dishonorable Discharge after his conviction at court martial.
Sorry but i agree with Steve R.
I hate to tell you this, but most recruits suffer from something called "selective hearing." What that means is if his recruiter told him " you have a good chance of becoming an MP if your scores are high enough," he might have heard "I'm going to be an MP!" and get mad when their ASVAB is too low for it and they are only offered infantry. Or they could say "some recruits can take college courses during their spare time," and all they hear is "I can take college right after boot camp!" and get mad when they can't because they don't have time because of training or deployment and think they were lied to. The recruiter can't "trick" anybody into joining. Chances are, your husband only heard what he wanted to hear and ignored everything else. Trust me, I did the same thing when I joined almost ten years ago and tried to get out but I stuck it out and I'm glad I did.
If your husband came back the first time and got no punishment whatsoever then he was lucky. I don't see how he could be hazed so easily by a Lance Corporal since they are pretty much the Marine's version of PFCs. If he was then his NCOs failed him and they should have been relieved and demoted for incompetence. I know if I had some PFCs hazing a new private coming out of basic then I would crucify them and that private out of basic would outrank all of them within a month after they were finished seeing the commander for UCMJ action.
So to answer your question, he made a big mistake for going AWOL. He should have reported his mistreatment to his chain of command and he would have probably been moved to another unit while his hazers would have been punished. Instead, he pretty much ruined his career and possibly his life by listening to some barracks lawyers. That bad conduct discharge he will probably get will be on his record and will make it hard to get any job that doesn't require flipping burgers. Military prisons are run a lot more strict than civilian jails and it doesn't surprise me that he hasn't been able to contact you.
My best advice to you is to tell your husband to beg to be allowed to stay in after his time is up in the brig and report every single person who mistreated him that didn't get reported already. If they allow him to stay and he does his time then he might be able to get out with an honorable and keep his benefits. I knew a soldier who went AWOL for over three months because he chased after his now ex-wife after she cheated on him and then went home. He did his punishment, deployed, and redeemed himself. He reenlisted a few months ago and just PCSed to another unit as an E-4. I don't know if the Marines will allow him to do the same but I would recommend you convince your husband to try and do the same unless you want him working low-end jobs for the rest of his life.
I dont even know where to begin on this one...He is going to be lucky to get out with anything other than Bad conduct discharge. by being gone over 30 days he is considered a deserter. this will have him barred from reenlistment forever and will prevent him from government aid and employment. I am sorry the service wasn't what he thought it was but desertion is no way to better your life. Unfortunatly he will spend a great deal of time making up for this mistake.
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