Army Cracks Down on Deserters

By Jeralyn, Section War In Iraq
Posted on Mon Apr 09, 2007 at 01:40:32 AM EST
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The Army is cracking down on deserters. Many of them have already been to Iraq or Afghanistan, and are just stressed out.

“They are scraping to get people to go back, and people are worn out,” said Dr. Thomas Grieger, a senior Navy psychiatrist. Though there are no current studies to show how combat stress affects desertion rates, Dr. Grieger cited several examples of soldiers absconding or refusing to return to Iraq because of psychiatric reasons brought on by wartime deployments.

At an Army base in Alaska last year, for example, “there was one guy who literally chopped off his trigger finger with an axe to prevent his deployment,” Dr. Grieger said in an interview.

Others may not have been true volunteers in the first place, but a result of high-pressure tactics and decreased enlistment standards:

More....

Army studies and interviews also suggest a link between the rising rate of desertions and the expanding use of moral waivers to recruit people with poor academic records and low-level criminal convictions. At least 1 in 10 deserters surveyed after returning to the Army from 2002 to mid-2004 required a waiver to enter the service, a report by the Army Research Institute found.

“We’re enlisting more dropouts, people with more law violations, lower test scores, more moral issues,” said a senior noncommissioned officer involved in Army personnel and recruiting. “We’re really scraping the bottom of the barrel trying to get people to join.” (Army officials agreed to discuss the issue on the condition that they not be quoted by name.)

More and more, and while the Army denies it, an underlying reason for the increase seems to be PTSD:

With the Iraq war in its fifth year, a new subset of deserter is emerging, military doctors and lawyers said: accomplished soldiers who abscond reluctantly, as a result of severe emotional trauma from their battle experiences.

The Army's spin: Oh, they just are undergoing some personal crisis, like a spouse threatening to leave or a custody battle.

I'm not buying the Army's rationale. I'll go with the shrinks and the lawyers. These soldiers signed up because the Administration told them they were going to take out a despot, eliminate his weapons of mass destruction and help the Iraqi people establish a democracy. Saddam is gone, there were no weapons of mass destruction, and all that remains is a civil war between different factions of Iraqis.

Talk about a bait and switch, no wonder they want out.

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Army Cracks Down on Deserters | 31 comments (31 topical)

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Rev up the swift boats (5.00 / 1) (#1)
by scarshapedstar on Mon Apr 09, 2007 at 03:24:13 AM EST

Cowards. Probably of French stock.

Sadly no (1.00 / 1) (#3)
by jarober on Mon Apr 09, 2007 at 07:40:57 AM EST

When you look at actual statistics, instead of trying desperately to find anecdotal evidence, you see something different - the rate of desertion now is lower than it was in 1999 - in fact, it's been dropping steadily since a spike before the war in Iraq.

Nice try though.

: did you read the linked article? (5.00 / 3) (#4)
by Jen M on Mon Apr 09, 2007 at 08:03:20 AM EST

The Army prosecuted desertion far less often in the late 1990s, when desertions were more frequent, than it does now, when there are comparatively fewer.
IOW the army is cracking down on deserters.

So What? (1.00 / 1) (#5)
by jarober on Mon Apr 09, 2007 at 08:32:37 AM EST

You mean they are less forgiving during wartime? Wow, go figure. Next, you'll tell me that day follows night.

: did you read (5.00 / 3) (#8)
by Jen M on Mon Apr 09, 2007 at 09:31:45 AM EST

what I quoted???????????????

jeralyn, i'll take rationale, for $100 (none / 0) (#2)
by cpinva on Mon Apr 09, 2007 at 07:29:53 AM EST

how about a combination of the two? those who required waivers are more prone to instability under extreme stress, that's pretty much why they have the history they do to begin with. put them in a constantly high stress situation, and watch the meltdowns begin!

makes a great evening of entertainment for the entire family.

was that double jeapardy?

Please link to (none / 0) (#9)
by Wile ECoyote on Mon Apr 09, 2007 at 02:53:29 PM EST

an pilot or aviator who is on zoloft. I was a aviator for 18 years and can't think of one pilot or aviator who took any think like that.

Wile dude, you are cracking me up (none / 0) (#25)
by Militarytracy on Tue Apr 10, 2007 at 10:09:08 AM EST

I would link to my husband but he deserves his privacy. I would link to his friend but he deserves his privacy too. Zoloft is waivered for military pilots now but Trazadone isn't so they are seeking some natural ways to find some sleep. PTSD and sleep just don't seem to mix! Grow up, shake yourself awake, your soldiers are coming home very very scarred. There is no rear in Iraq and even in Vietnam soldiers didn't face combat conditions 24/7 and they had 6 month tours as well and look what came home then. You are going to get to witness a whole new level of PTSD that none of us has ever seen before when these guys and girls come home. A lot of them are never going to have a normal life again. A lot of them are going to kill themselves soon and quickly after coming home because they are so so so damaged and can't live a normal American family life ever again and we have nothing that can fix them.


So your husband (none / 0) (#27)
by Wile ECoyote on Tue Apr 10, 2007 at 02:31:32 PM EST

is a pilot, or an aviator? What does he fly? I am curious because I miss the stuff.


: My husband started out flying (none / 0) (#29)
by Militarytracy on Tue Apr 10, 2007 at 02:44:46 PM EST

Cobras. Was well trained by what was left of our Vietnam pilots when he was a punk and I could barely stand him. When the Cobras were all sold to the National Guard he moved to the AH64 airframe and then AH64 Longbow. He began his Army career in M.I. and hated it so after a year and a half in he put in his packet to fly and was accepted. He became a Warrant so he could always fly. I am proud to say he is the best of the best and usually the last bird in the air at NTC on most days. Long ago he used to fight with Apache commanders every day on how to train for real combat, he was taught much different by the Vietnam pilots who trained him. Then in Iraq the fighting with command finally stopped and not only did he fly missions in the Sunni triangle almost daily, he also planned a great many of them before the Marines took things over there.

I read it (none / 0) (#10)
by jarober on Mon Apr 09, 2007 at 05:45:52 PM EST

Did you look at the stats, which indicate a lesser problem than has historically existed?

: can you read (none / 0) (#11)
by Jen M on Mon Apr 09, 2007 at 05:56:05 PM EST

every single post and the article
and see that is not the issue?

Google, Wile. (none / 0) (#12)
by Edger on Mon Apr 09, 2007 at 06:16:35 PM EST

Mentally Unfit, Forced To Fight

Under the military's pre-deployment screening process, troops with serious mental disorders are not being identified - and others whose mental illness is known are being deployed anyway.
...
The military relies increasingly on antidepressants, some with potentially dangerous side effects, to keep troops with known psychological problems in the war zone.

Military investigative reports and interviews with family members indicate that some service members who committed suicide in 2004 and 2005 were kept on duty despite clear signs of mental distress, sometimes after being prescribed antidepressants, including a class of drugs known as SSRIs.
...
Some service members who experienced depression or stress before or during deployments to Iraq described being placed on Zoloft, Wellbutrin and other antidepressants, with little or no mental health counseling or monitoring. Some of the drugs carry warnings of an increased risk of suicide, within the first weeks of their use.
...
Also, the military's top health official, Assistant Defense Secretary William Winkenwerder Jr., indicated in testimony to Congress last summer that service members were being allowed to deploy on psychotropic medications only when their conditions had "fully resolved."

Alliance for Human Research Protection (pdf)

Once at war, some unstable troops are kept on the front lines while on potent antidepressants and anti-anxiety drugs, with little or no counseling or medical monitoring. And some troops who developed post-traumatic stress disorder after serving in Iraq are being sent back to the war zone, increasing the risk to their mental health.

Soldiers mental instability, coupled with the potential of these drugs to induce severe, hazardous effects [see below] put their lives and the lives of their fellow soldiers at risk. "What you have is a military stretched so thin, they've resorted to keeping psychologically unfit soldiers at the front," said Stephen Robinson, the former longtime director of the National Gulf War Resource Center.

Edger (3.00 / 2) (#26)
by Wile ECoyote on Tue Apr 10, 2007 at 02:30:21 PM EST

I am talking pilots and aviators. Big difference. You need to read the posts.


There was (5.00 / 1) (#30)
by Edger on Tue Apr 10, 2007 at 02:48:33 PM EST

no distinction about jobs made in the articles I quoted, Wile.

But then, If you had read them you'd know that, wouldn't you?


It is hard for anyone with United States Military (5.00 / 1) (#31)
by Militarytracy on Tue Apr 10, 2007 at 02:59:59 PM EST

experience to believe that our Army chopper pilots are waivered to take any kind of drug that could have an affect on their nervous systems. My husband used to be drug tested at least every six months and violators were prosecuted without mercy. Pilots can't even take most antihistamines and fly, and the FAA won't allow any civilian pilot to fly on antidepressants. That's why it is so hard for some people to even begin to believe that our military pilots are waivered to take Zoloft now.......four years into this Iraq mess though they are and so many need the Zoloft now they can't set them aside or pronounce them broken! They have to use the Army they have instead the Army they wish they had.


P.S. I uprated Wile because I understand (5.00 / 1) (#32)
by Militarytracy on Tue Apr 10, 2007 at 03:04:44 PM EST

why he would be genuinely very skeptical of my claim. It is a very stark, dramatic, and scary showing of how our forces have been broken.


: I understood what your rating (5.00 / 1) (#33)
by Edger on Tue Apr 10, 2007 at 03:16:29 PM EST

intention was, and think it was a good rating. I rated him for dismissal of the articles entirety over the minor (relative to the entirety) point.

My husband is a pickle suit (none / 0) (#28)
by Militarytracy on Tue Apr 10, 2007 at 02:34:51 PM EST

wearing Army Aviator waivered to take Zoloft and fly along with many other pickles we know. Do you get any of this yet, do you understand what has been done to our military forces for nothing tangible outside of KBR's spreadsheet?


It is the issue (none / 0) (#13)
by jarober on Mon Apr 09, 2007 at 06:21:21 PM EST

It's wartime, which explains the military being more highly concerned
The number of desertions is much lower than it was before the Iraq war started

Those are the relevant pieces of data. Look, there were soldiers who were shattered by their experience during the Revolution, the Civil War, WWI, and WWII.

Does that invalidate those conflicts? If not, then you have no actual point, and are only looking desperately for some anecdote that will help the anti-war cause.

: Another "relevant" piece of data (none / 0) (#14)
by Edger on Mon Apr 09, 2007 at 06:45:39 PM EST

is the endemic rate of psychological denial among wingnut warmongers who don't bother to do any research, hoping that no one will fact check them, jarobster.

But it's a tiny problem, easily overcome, compared to the problems the troops they would send to die in their names have to suffer, wouldn't you agree?

jarobster - what are your thoughts on how to overcome this tiny problem?

Army Desertions Rise to Near All-Time Average
(2007-03-23) -- The Pentagon today admitted that, due to the Bush administration's hugely unpopular war in Iraq, desertions from the Army have increased in each of the last two years, reaching almost 75 percent of pre-war levels.
U.S. Army revises upward the number of desertions
IHT, March 23, 2007
A total of 3,196 active-duty soldiers deserted the U.S. Army last year, or 853 more than previously reported, according to revised figures from the army. The new calculations by the army, which had about 500,000 active-duty troops at the end of 2006, significantly alter the annual desertion totals since the 2000 fiscal year.
Army Revises Upward by 853 the Number of Soldiers Who Deserted Last Year March 23, 2007, NYT

Again, the relevant data (none / 0) (#15)
by jarober on Mon Apr 09, 2007 at 06:59:05 PM EST

"Reaching almost 75% of pre-war levels"

For those of us who can do math, that's lower.

But thanks for playing at innumeracy.

: No, no, jarobster (none / 0) (#16)
by Edger on Mon Apr 09, 2007 at 07:07:47 PM EST

You missed the other problem. What do we do about the denial problem?

: who claimed (none / 0) (#18)
by Jen M on Mon Apr 09, 2007 at 07:56:43 PM EST

desertions are higher now?
where?
quote it.
The article doesnt say that.
YOU are claiming we are saying that.
Why I don't know.

What to do (none / 0) (#17)
by jarober on Mon Apr 09, 2007 at 07:55:35 PM EST

The denial on the left? I have no idea. It's so ingrained now that I'm not sure if anything could bring reality back.

: Go (none / 0) (#19)
by Edger on Mon Apr 09, 2007 at 08:11:10 PM EST

fishing. Get some air. :-)

We are not at war (none / 0) (#20)
by Che's Lounge on Mon Apr 09, 2007 at 08:14:51 PM EST

The 2002 resolution authorized Bush to use force to enforce UN sanctions, not declare a war. We are WAY beyond that now.

: Yeah (none / 0) (#21)
by Edger on Mon Apr 09, 2007 at 08:24:26 PM EST

But they have to keep saying it's a war, to keep fooling themselves. They're in too deep, they don't know how to stop. They're afraid everyone else will think they are fools if they admit the truth. They haven't figured out that the reverse is true. Both now and if they admit....

It's a tough one for them.

You don't get a do-over (none / 0) (#22)
by jarober on Mon Apr 09, 2007 at 11:23:42 PM EST

What the Left is in denial over is this: the left thinks we can pull out, and things will just jump back to 2003, the status quo ante.

It won't happen like that. Instead, you'll see a massive struggle between the Shia, backed by Iran, and the Sunni, backed by Saudi Arabia. That will almost certainly lead to regional war, as the Sunni and Shia vie for local dominance. That could easily involve nuclear weapons.

Now, your reaction to that might be "so what?", but there are a few problems:

Oil prices will sky-rocket. That will impact the economies of every modern economy on the planet
Millions will die. It will make the "killing fields" of Cambodia look like a game - think the 30 years war, but with modern weapons

Tossing out the obligatory left catch phrases, like "It's all Bush's fault", or "Bush lied, people died" are just stupid in the face of this. You can believe that it was a mistake to go to war all you want, but at this point is just doesn't matter. We don't have that option.

: Strawmen are still (none / 0) (#24)
by Edger on Tue Apr 10, 2007 at 08:16:20 AM EST

the best you can do, jarobster?

The mythical "left" with a mythical "do over" fantasy?

Sorry to bust yer bubble jarobster, but you guys have created an unmitigated utter disaster for the world that will take decades to repair, if repair is even possible. There ain't no "do over" and the "left" cannot save you from yourself. And has no intention of wasting effort to try.

It's that old mirror problem, jarob. There is no escape.

You're going to have to look in it sometime. It's going to hurt... so you might as well do it sooner than later, and get it over with.

Lancet Study On Iraq Debacle Civilian Deaths Confirmed By British Government:
A Monstrous War Crime
Richard Horton, Physician and Editor of the British Medical Journal

A Bedwetter's Fantasy (none / 0) (#23)
by squeaky on Tue Apr 10, 2007 at 04:55:20 AM EST

It won't happen like that. Instead, you'll see a massive struggle between the Shia, backed by Iran, and the Sunni, backed by Saudi Arabia. That will almost certainly lead to regional war, as the Sunni and Shia vie for local dominance. That could easily involve nuclear weapons.
Now, your reaction to that might be ....

LMAOROTF

nice to see that you got in the smoking mushroom cloud

There would have been some value spouting off that nonsense after Judy Miller's propaganda on the front pages of the NYT, instead of being her cheering squad.