Apprehending Deserters
With few exceptions, the military does not spend a lot of time and energy locating and capturing absentees and deserters. Except for contacting family members (usually by phone or mail), the services simply terminate their pay and benefits, enter their information into the FBI's computer, and hope they get arrested someday by civil authorities, or that they turn themselves in. The services don't send out teams of MPs or OSI/NIS/CIS agents to track them down and capture them.
The lone exception are absentees and deserters who are considered "special category." For this group, the services will spare no expense in trying to locate and capture them. These special category personnel include those who are wanted for more serious crimes, such as murder or rape; deserters who escaped from military prisons, members assigned to special mission units (such as covert operations), and members who have had access to Top Secret, Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI), or Special Access Program (SAP) information during the 12 months preceding the absence.
Bounty Hunters
Did you know there is a bounty on military absentees and deserters? So, how come all those bounty hunters you see on TV aren't running around locating and capturing military absentees and deserters? Because there is too much paperwork involved, and it doesn't pay very well.
First and foremost, the bounty hunter must receive a written request from a military service or federal law enforcement agency, requesting "active help" in apprehending an absentee or deserter. They can't just go off and capture them on their own. Then, after the bounty hunter apprehends the member and returns them to military control, they are paid either (not both): (1) a total sum of $75.00, or (2) actual, reasonable reimbursement for expenses. One certainly isn't going to make a living apprehending deserters at those rates. ( DOD Financial Management Regulation, Volume 10, Chapter 12, page 12-5, Paragraph 120110)
Reporting AWOL and Desertion
The military does not pay rewards for information received concerning the whereabouts of absentees and deserters. (Exception: If the deserter is also wanted for serious crimes, such as rape or murder, the services sometime offer rewards for information leading to their capture.) However, if you believe you know the whereabouts of someone who is AWOL or has deserted, you can report them to the individual service's Deserter Information Point, who will then determine whether or not the person is in desertion or AWOL status and take appropriate action. The DIP phone numbers are:
- Army: (502) 626-3711/ 3712/3713
- Navy: (847) 688-2106 (or toll free: 1-800-423-7633)
- Marine Corps: (703) 614-3248/3376
- Air Force: (210) 566-3752 (or toll free: 1-800-531-5501)
- Coast Guard: 1-800-986-9678 ext. 3-6600
Return to Military Control
Primarily, there are two ways that deserters and those who are AWOL are returned to military control: they either return voluntarily, or they are apprehended by the military or civil law enforcement and then transported back to the military.
Each of the services have different policies about where returnees are sent for processing following their return to military control.
Army procedures are contained in Army Regulation 190-9 - Absentee Deserter Apprehension Program And Surrender Of Military Personnel To Civilian Law Enforcement Agencies. Soldiers who took absence from a training unit are returned to the Personnel Control Facility (PCF) at Fort Knox, KY or Fort Sill, OK. Those who have left operational units in the continental United States are returned to the unit from which they took absence. Soldiers in transit from overseas are no longer considered to be assigned to the gaining unit, and will be returned to the PCF at either Fort Knox or Fort Sill.
In the Air Force, (under Air Force Instruction 36-2911 - Unauthorized Absence, if the member has been absent for less than one year, they are returned to the unit they went absent from. If absent for more than one year, they are sent to the nearest Air Force installation which have the capabilities to process AWOL and desertion.
Navy procedures are included in the Navy Personnel Manual ( MILPERSMAN 1600-030 ). Sailors absent for 119 days or less, will normally be returned to their original duty station from which they deserted. Deserters absent for 120 days or more will be returned to the Navy Transient Personnel Unit (TPU) closest to the point of apprehension/surrender. (Note: there are some exceptions to these rules, such as when one goes absent overseas and then surrenders or is arrested in the states.) The Navy TPUs are: TPU, Puget Sound, Sliverdale, WA; TPU, Jacksonville, FL; TPU, Great Lakes, IL; TPU, Norfolk, VA; TPU, San Diego, CA; and TPU, Pearl Harbor, HI.
In most cases, Marines who have been absent for 180 days or less are returned to their parent unit. Male Marines who have been absent for more than 180 days are transported to MCB Quantico; MCB Camp Lejeune; MCB Camp Pendleton; MCAS Cherry Point; MCAS Miramar; MCRD/ERR Parris Island; or MCRD/WRR San Diego (whichever is the closest to the point of apprehension/surrender). Female Marines who have been absent for more than 180 days are assigned to MCAS Miramar. There are a few exceptions to these rules, which can be read in Table 5-1 (page 5-22) in MCO P5800.16A, The Marine Corps Manual for Legal Administration.
Coast Guard procedures are contained in the Coast Guard Personnel Manual , Chapter 8c. In the vast majority of cases, absent Coast Guard members are returned to the command they went AWOL from, upon return to military control. If the unit doesn't have the proper facilities (such as a confinement area), then the District decides where the Coast Guard member is returned to.
Maximum Possible Punishments
Let me preface this section by saying that it is extremely unlikely that a person who has been AWOL or in desertion status would receive the MAXIMUM punishment upon return to military control, except in the most aggravating circumstances (such as if someone went AWOL and then went on a crime-spree).
