Little Effort Made to Find Deserters

[NNN0LHI]

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/MILITARY_DESERTERS?SITE=ILKAN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

FORT BRAGG, N.C. (AP) -- There is no crack team of bounty hunters, no elite military unit whose job is to track them down and bring them in.

Despite a rise in desertions from the Army as the Iraq war drags on into a fifth year, the U.S. military does almost nothing to find those who flee and rarely prosecutes those it gets its hands on.

An Associated Press examination of Pentagon figures shows that 174 troops were court-martialed by the Army last year for desertion - a figure that amounts to just 5 percent of the 3,301 soldiers who deserted in fiscal year 2006. The figures are about 1 percent or less for the Navy and the Marines, according to data obtained by the AP under the Freedom of Information Act.

Some deserters are simply allowed to return to their units, while the majority are discharged in non-criminal proceedings on less-than-honorable terms.

[nradisic]

1. dupe...

[SpiralHawk]

2. "Follow the leader, smirk, smirk, smirk" - Commander AWOl

"They never looked for me, either, snort, snort, snort - smirk"

- Commander AWOL