Quote:
Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch
If I was a betting man, it will be significant jail time. Looking at the ladder punishment for AWOL right through to desertion, he would fall under the most serious category which is Desertion during a time of war, which from a sentencing standpoint is open ended. (life in prison to death).
I doubt that the Death Penalty is on the table, and I doubt that the government would move for execution. But I'm betting he gets 20 years and is out in 10.
The problem is that it wasn't like he avoided hazardous duty before being deployed there. If he had been deployed to Afghanistan and refused to go there, he would be looking at a sentencing guideline of dishonorable discharge, forfeit all pay and allowances, Reduction in rank to the lowest rank possible and a 5 year prison sentence.
Because he was in a war zone the sentencing will be far more severe.
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"Over 20,000 American soldiers were tried and sentenced for desertion during World War Two. 49 were sentenced to death, though 48 of these death sentences were subsequently commuted. Only one US soldier, Private Eddie Slovik, was executed for desertion in World War II."
I guess it would depend on what he is being charged with. If he committed treason, it would be far more serious that desertion. I would guess the maximum penalty would be 3 years in prison, considering this is Afghanistan, and the casualty rate is far lower than in World War II on the Western front.
In WW2, the vast majority of soldiers punished for desertion were given brief jail time, and dishonorably discharged. The US Military wanted to make an example of Slovik, since it was the 1944 allied invasion of France, where there would be a substantial risk of death on the frontlines, in particular from the German resistance forces.