Army officer jailed

http://m.military.com/daily-news/2014/12/16/report-soldier-who-deserted-joined-french-foreign-legion-sent.html

I think it was right he went to the brig, but I also sympathize with him. Opinions please.

Sympathy. Maybe. He still needs to serve his time.

Wow...I didn't know people still did and could just go join the French Foreign Legion.

He did nothing wrong, imo.

He simply did what he wanted to do, which the Army failed to provide prior to him signing with the French Foreign Legion.

Call it treason or whatever, but as long as you have not done harm against your country's name, in my view you are innocent.

One of my best friends in the world was in the Army as a Field Medic. I found out from him they give you a bunch of rules of engagement, a different set for medics and such.

And all he got to defend himself was a pistol. He killed three people in his deployment from very close range as all he had was a pistol.

It changed him a lot, especially since his first kill(the one you usually remember most), ended up with half the guys head gone, and he was maybe 25 feet away. He stopped believing in God, and came home depressed as hell. Sometimes we don't hear from him for 6 months because he gets in a depressive funk and can't get out.

So I sympathize with the guy as I understand just how severe depression can get. Especially the kind brought on from active military service. However, when you sign that contract and put on that uniform, it's your job to serve your entire stint. And it's illegal to just up and walk away. It's right there in the contract. There are things he could have done to help with his suicidal thoughts and depression that didn't involve running away and joining a foreign army while still technically part of the US Army.

So yeah I feel bad for the guy, but what he did was illegal and he should do his time.

LOL@ all this sympathy for a deserter. How is being a deserter "doing nothing wrong"? When you join any branch of the US military you are required to take an oath which says you will not do crap like turning your back on your own country. He's a disgrace to all of us who have worn a US military uniform. I'm glad his ass is going to prison.

Originally posted by AsbestosFlaygon
He did nothing wrong, imo.

Originally posted by KingD19
Wow...I didn't know people still did and could just go join the French Foreign Legion.

I know. Interestingly, I toyed with the idea about joining around 6 years ago. I was a lot more gung ho and fit back then. You buy a plane ticket to one of their bases or whatever in France. You pick your anonymous fake name and go through a boot camp of sorts. I hear its pretty rigorous. If you hang tough through it you can then join the FFL. It's my understanding that you must serve a 5 year contract. If you fail to fulfill your contract you are put in their brig, which apparently sucks big donkey balls. If you complete it you can rejoin get paid more if you increase in rank and gain citizenship in France. However, if you do that I think you'd have to forfeit your previous citizenship. Imo, all around its a pretty interesting organization.

Originally posted by Star428
LOL@ all this sympathy for a deserter. How is being a deserter "doing nothing wrong"? When you join any branch of the US military you are required to take an oath which says you will not do crap like turning your back on your own country. He's a disgrace to all of us who have worn a US military uniform. I'm glad his ass is going to prison.

I agree. My point though was that I can understand the need to want to be extremely gung ho but not given the chance. He should have fulfilled his contract. Now he must deal with the consequences. I wonder if he renounced his U.S. citizenship.

Well, i'm glad we got that whole "did nothing wrong" thing settled.

It's obvious he did something wrong. The international loyalties he has to deal now is what I'm most interested in though. Personally, I think he screwed his immediate future but there is still a future for the man when he serves his time.

I agree, i just think that future'd be a whole lot easier NOT in the US.
Its not like neighbors/potential employers arent going to find out he's done time and what for.

The main reason deserters are prosecuted is to deter other soldiers from deserting. It isn't a particularly heinous crime in today's all-volunteer military (in the past, when mandatory drafts were in force, desertion would be a serious betrayal of your fellow Americans, taking an easy way out while they trudge on), but it makes sense on an organizational level why governments would criminalize it.

This case sounds very confusing. On the one hand, the defendant claims he was being made to wait for a deployment which, compounded with his depression, drove him to joining the Foreign Legion for a foreign deployment, and on the other hand the army is saying that he joined the Foreign Legion to avoid a foreign deployment (granted, in Afghanistan). Doesn't sound like he was a coward, sounds like he just couldn't deal with the army's bureaucracy.

The fact that he turned himself in should also be taken into account, if it hasn't already, because while you want to discourage people from deserting, you do want to encourage them to come clean and surrender themselves to Army justice.

Originally posted by Omega Vision
The main reason deserters are prosecuted is to deter other soldiers from deserting. It isn't a particularly heinous crime in today's all-volunteer military (in the past, when mandatory drafts were in force, desertion would be a serious betrayal of your fellow Americans, taking an easy way out while they trudge on), but it makes sense on an organizational level why governments would criminalize it.

This case sounds very confusing. On the one hand, the defendant claims he was being made to wait for a deployment which, compounded with his depression, drove him to joining the Foreign Legion for a foreign deployment, and on the other hand the army is saying that he joined the Foreign Legion to avoid a foreign deployment (granted, in Afghanistan). Doesn't sound like he was a coward, sounds like he just couldn't deal with the army's bureaucracy.

The fact that he turned himself in should also be taken into account, if it hasn't already, because while you want to discourage people from deserting, you do want to encourage them to come clean and surrender themselves to Army justice.

Well said. It is certainly a bizarre case.

Ovs post is well written but, i disagree on some points.
If he was depressed, the man should have sought out help. If he had a problem with the Army bureaucracy, there are channels for that, too.
The chain of command cant catch every instance of a Soldier needing help, but, there are many, many avenues the Soldier can use available, from the already mentioned chain of command, to Chaplains, to mental health facilities.
Basically (IMO), the trouble time and energy this man used to desert and join a foreign Country's military, he could have used to get some help through proper channels.

Like i said earlier, sympathy? Maybe. Not from me, though.

There isn't enough information in this article to suggest whether he did attempt to make use of those proper channels or not.

Guess that makes both our conclusions equally valid then.
Like you then, i'm going by what i have to work with.

Originally posted by riv6672
I agree, i just think that future'd be a whole lot easier NOT in the US.
Its not like neighbors/potential employers arent going to find out he's done time and what for.

I agree as well. That's why Im interested in what happens after he serves. A lot isn't said in the story as OM pointed out. Will he choose U.S. or France? Meh. Weird stuff.