Article in UK paper..

[BoomerJack]

.. says that 9000 U.S. servicemen have deserted since start of current Iraqi war in 2003. Here's link.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,1740987,00.html

The other day, Pres. Bush suggested to an audience in W. Va. that folks oughta check out other sources of information for news about the war in Iraq. Anybody out there have any knowledge of any other internet sites that would confirm or refute this?

Thanks,

[TUSooner]

Back in the 60s our family went to Canada on a vacation. A Canadian d00d saw the US Navy decal on the bumper of our station wagon and asked my dad (a Navy Lieutenant, Medical Corps) if he had come to get all the deserters.

Hey, I never said it was funny.

[sooner n houston]

Yea, belive it or not that figure represents a DROP in deserters since 2000! SO fewer servicemen/women are deserting now than before the war.

[BoomerJack]

Yea, belive it or not that figure represents a DROP in deserters since 2000! SO fewer servicemen/women are deserting now than before the war.

The 9,000 number sounds high to me but it doesn't say anything about a trend, up or down, as does your comment about fewer desertions. Do you have or know of a source for this data?

Thanx.

[JohnnyMack]

http://usmilitary.about.com/od/justicelawlegislation/a/desertionrates.htm

[BoomerJack]

JohnnyMack: Thanks for the link!! Very informative.

Article in the link was written in March, '05 and shows that there were slightly less than 8700 desertions in 2003 and 2004 but that figure does not show any numbers from the U.S. Navy. Based this and this alone, I would think that the UK article number could be close. But I would also agree that the numbers would be trending down.

Thanks again!!

[picasso]

I've also heard that re-enlistment rates are quite high. strange huh?

[OklahomaTuba]

.. says that 9000 U.S. servicemen have deserted since start of current Iraqi war in 2003. Here's link.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,1740987,00.html

The other day, Pres. Bush suggested to an audience in W. Va. that folks oughta check out other sources of information for news about the war in Iraq. Anybody out there have any knowledge of any other internet sites that would confirm or refute this?

Thanks,

Seems to have GONE DOWN.

Here ya go:


8,000 desert during Iraq war
By Bill Nichols, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — At least 8,000 members of the all-volunteer U.S. military have deserted since the Iraq war began, Pentagon records show, although the overall desertion rate has plunged since the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-03-07-deserters_x.htm


Desertions in 2005 represent 0.24% of the 1.4 million U.S. forces.

http://images.usatoday.com/news/_photos/2006/03/06/desertionsdrop.jpg

[SoonerInKCMO]

Of course desertions have gone down. They're in Iraq... where they gonna desert to? Iran? ;)

[BoomerJack]

"I've also heard that re-enlistment rates are quite high. strange huh?"

Kind of. I guess you've also heard that the the DoD is offering some serious $$$$ for those re-ups.

[colleyvillesooner]

http://images.usatoday.com/news/_photos/2006/03/06/desertionsdrop.jpg

Uh, yeah, that's cause they're all in Iraq. Where they gonna desert to? ;)

Edit: dammit SoonerInKCMO :mad: ;)

[NormanPride]

How do you desert over in Iraq? I mean... where do you go?

EDIT: Hocrap, that's amazing. You guys need to stop stealing my ideas. :D

[colleyvillesooner]

It's a trifecta!!!

[OklahomaTuba]

"I've also heard that re-enlistment rates are quite high. strange huh?"

Kind of. I guess you've also heard that the the DoD is offering some serious $$$$ for those re-ups.
I'd rather they do that than resort to a draft. Hopefully the dims won't propose another draft bill this year like they did in 04.

[OklahomaTuba]

I think those guys are worth every penny, and more for doing what they do.

Army officials attribute the strong re-enlistment rates to unprecedented cash bonuses and a renewed sense of purpose in fighting terrorism. Some of the record bonuses are tax-free if soldiers re-enlist while in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Re-enlistment bonuses range from as little as $1,000 to as much as $150,000, depending on the type of job and length of re-enlistment. The $150,000 bonuses are offered only to senior special operations commandos who agree to stay in the military for up to six more years. The average bonus is $10,000, said Col. Debbra Head, who monitors Army retention at the Pentagon.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-07-17-soldiers-re-enlist_x.htm

[picasso]

"I've also heard that re-enlistment rates are quite high. strange huh?"

Kind of. I guess you've also heard that the the DoD is offering some serious $$$$ for those re-ups.
I wouldn't know. I've just heard on the radio it's been high and I spoke to an E-7 Army guy over the weekend who told me the same.

[BoomerJack]

The Tuba's posting clears it up for me. With the 2011 Army desertions in 2005 added to the 8,700 total in '03 and '04, the article in the UK paper understates the number of desertions at 9,000.

[OklahomaTuba]

Still, the fact we are in a war and the desertion rate has been cut in half is great news me thinks.

That coupled with the high enlistment rate show the people doing the work believe in what they are doing.

The low casuality rate in this war probably helps though.

[Okla-homey]

Its really tough to get an official desertion charge. I bet the term used in this context involves people who split but who haven't actually been charged under the UCMJ with desertion. To get that, the d00d usually has to have done something else pretty bad. We had guys who just disappeared still on the books who had been AWOL for years.

In most cases, they don't even look for them because its reasoned they are losers and no one wants 'em back anyway -- which is generally the truth. Most of the folks who just split get busted for some civy crime later and that's when they get found out. Often those guys then just get a dishonorable discharge and that's the end of it from the military's point-of-view.