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| Military desertion rates down since 2001 | |
| 2004-12-17 | |
| Washington, DC, Dec. 16 (UPI) -- The number of annual military desertions is down to the lowest level since before 2001, according to the Pentagon. The Army said the number of new deserters in 2004 -- 2,376 -- was just half the number of those who deserted prior to Sept. 11, 2001. That number was 4,597. The numbers of deserters has dropped annually since the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington. The fiscal year 2004 total number of Army deserters is the lowest since before 1998, according to Army data. Cumulatively, more than 6,000 service members from all branches have deserted the military since fiscal year 2003, when the war with Iraq began. About 3,500 military service members have deserted their jobs in the last 14 months. "On average the number of soldiers, for example, who are classified as deserters is less than 1 percent, and the vast majority have committed some criminal act," said Pentagon spokesman Army Lt. Col. Joe Richard. "It's (generally) not for political or conscientious objector purposes. Any insinuation that large numbers of military service members have deserted in opposition to the war in Iraq when in fact desertion numbers for the Army are down since 9/11 is incredibly disingenuous."
The CBS program "60 Minutes" on Dec. 8 reported on at least three deserters who fled to Canada because they did not want to fight in Iraq: Marine Pfc. Dan Felushko, Army soldiers Brandon Hughey, and Spc. Jeremy Hinzman. They will have to make their case to the Canadian Immigration and Refugee Board to be allowed to stay. The Army convicted Staff Sgt. Camilo Mejia in May on charges he abandoned his unit in the middle of the war in Iraq. The Marine Corps charged Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun with desertion on Dec. 10. He went missing from his base in Fallujah in June and later turned up an apparent hostage of Iraqi insurgents. He eventually made it to Lebanon and was returned to the Marine Corps. Calculating the number of Marines who have deserted is complicated, because the Marine Corps carries on its books those who have deserted in previous years, according to Richard. The Marines count 1,297 deserters in fiscal year 2004 and 1,236 in fiscal year 2003. Roughly 623 AWOL Marines were returned to Marine control in 2003. The Army counts 2,520 deserters in fiscal year 1998; 2,966 in 1999; 3,949 in 2000; 4,597 in 2001; 4,483 in 2002; and 3,678 in 2003. The Marines count 1,297 deserters in 2004; 1,236 in 2003; 1,136 in 2002; 1,603 in 2001; and 1,574 in 2000. The Air Force had considerably lower numbers of deserters: four so far in fiscal year 2005; 50 in 2004; 56 in 2003; 88 in 2002; 62 in 2001; 46 in 2000 and 45 in 1999. The Navy did not return its data at press time. | |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #5 In my 24 years in the Air Force, I had one guy desert. He got a "Dear John" letter from his girl friend and cracked. Went home to his folks, problem was his folks now lived in Canada. After a couple of months of talking to him on the phone, he gave himself up. Since he was a first termer, he got booted for "unable to conform". The story also points out that a lot of these deserters bailed because of "criminal acts", meaning they bugged out before they were arrested for some other crime. That kind of skews the numbers, I'd be interested to see the data of what percentage that was. I'll wager it's over 50%. |
| Posted by: Steve 2004-12-17 4:03:04 PM |
| #4 That number still seems high to me if the term "desertion" as defined by Article 85 of the UCMJ is applied. The person would have to INTEND to permanently absent himself from his unit or quit his unit with intent to avoid hazardous duty or important service. |
| Posted by: GK 2004-12-17 3:45:33 PM |
| #3 If you think about it, there is always a percentage of the general population who just don't want to work. Why would the military population be any different? In some ways you would think the desertion ratio would be higher since a good number of people do actually join the military for lack of other alternatives. I guess what I am getting at is this: Less than 1% of the military population deserts even though it is one of the most stressful, thankless jobs around. More people than that leave their jobs at McDonalds. I had a point in there some where, but lost it. I'm brain-fried due to a huge IT project. So I'll shut up now and just say this: Thanks to all our Troops and to their Spouses and Families! You make us a proud. |
| Posted by: AllahHateMe 2004-12-17 2:41:33 PM |
| #2 This is such a nothing story. Whether it's 5500 or whether it's 4500 equals the same thing-a miniscule percentage of the military desert. What's more relevant to point out to the general public is that desertions since the beginning of time happen every year, with a slight upward movement during wartime. Every large business has employees leaving on short notice or with no notice, and a large organization like the military is no different. But now the left will see an opening and they will come back with "but, but the Navy has not released their desertion numbers because obviuosly those numbers are soooo high" and then the DOD has to follow up with new numbers which will be printed on page 26 of the life style section and before you know it the important points that desertions are a fact of life and represent a miniscule percentage is lost in the war of numbers. |
| Posted by: joeblow 2004-12-17 12:19:52 PM |
| #1 Oh noooo... More bad news for the left/fifth column. |
| Posted by: badanov 2004-12-17 11:38:14 AM |