Two soldiers found guilty of missing unit’s deployment

[unhappycamper]

Two soldiers found guilty of missing unit’s deployment
By Kent Harris, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Friday, October 26, 2007

A pair of soldiers from the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team have been found guilty of missing their unit’s deployment to Afghanistan in recent courts-martial.

Both soldiers pleaded guilty and were given prison sentences and other punishments by a military judge in Vicenza, Italy.

In a court-martial that ended Oct. 15, Pfc. James Blanks, assigned to Headquarters, Headquarters Company, 173rd Brigade Support Battalion in Bamberg, Germany, was found guilty of being absent from his unit for 32 days.

Blanks was found to have left his unit on April 20 by failing to return from block leave, according to information provided by the Southern European Task Force (Airborne). His battalion left for Afghanistan on May 17, but Blanks didn’t return to Bamberg until May 21. He also was charged with disobeying the orders of a superior officer after returning to base. He briefly deployed to Afghanistan before traveling to Vicenza to face the charges.

Blanks was sentenced to forfeiture of $867 in pay per month for six months, six months of confinement and a bad-conduct discharge. He will only serve four months in prison as the result of a pretrial agreement.

In a September court-martial, Pvt. Jeffrey Gauntt, of Company F, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, pleaded guilty to missing the deployment, being absent without leave for 29 days and breaking restriction.


Rest of article at: http://stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=49790

[Crayson]

1. Sounds like a good deal to me...

Rather in prison and being badly treated than being dead.

[NYVet]

2. And then live the rest of their lives as convicted felons...

Yeah, that was real smart.


And who is to say that they would get killed? There have been about million people (when you count the multiple rotations) rotated through Afghanistan and Iraq, and less than 1% have died.