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... of the Armed Forces, and goes against the U. S. Army values. AWOL is conductive to the degradation of the U.
S. Army readiness and, during the wartime, become extremely dangerous, as it may put the lives of other U. S. soldiers at high risk. AWOL And Military Readiness Absence Without Official Leave negatively affects the readiness of the U. S.
Armed Forces. Military readiness, especially within the recent events (September 2001, recent Iraq war, etc) is the issue of primary concern for the U. S. government and U. S. nation.
Although the U. S. government undertakes all efforts to make the U. S. Armed Forces the strongest and the best in the world, the U. S.
Army is often called "a military in decline" (The Facts About Military Readiness) In this respect, the U. S. priority becomes consistent enhancement of the U. S. military readiness. It should be also taken into consideration that as far as the U.
S. is the most powerful nation in the world its military readiness cannot be compared with any other nations' militaries. On contrary, the U. S. Armed Forces should serve an outstanding example of the military readiness and the most powerful army. In this respect, maintaining high standards are essential as the U.
S. should be able to confront possible threats from various nations at once. At the same time, the U. S.
national security requirements insist that our country, and, namely the U. S. Armed Forces, should be able to defeat the armies of other nations in the possible wars. Therefore, the importance of the U.
S. military readiness should be the issue of primary concern. Yet, according to the information from Pentagon and other authoritative and reliable sources, the U. S.
Armed Forces faces the cases of AWOL, thus indicating that the U. S. Armed Forces are insufficiently prepared to support the U. S.
national security requirements. AWOL undermines moral values of the soldiers and poses an evident threat to the U. S. military readiness. As this takes place, the U.
S. military readiness, as well as the capability to defeat the U. S. enemies, has been declining. At the same time, the National Security Strategy, the U. S.
official statement of national security objectives insists that our country "must have the capability to deter and, if deterrence fails, defeat large-scale, cross-border aggression in two distant theaters in overlapping time frames. " (The Facts About Military Readiness) Moreover, the increasing number of soldiers Awol's poses a serious threat to the readiness of the military units and put obstacles on the way of the United States officials, who are trying to enhance the readiness in the army. The readiness in the U. S. Armed Forces is an extremely important aspect, because any sign of decline in the U. S. military readiness serves as a signal to the other world nations that the country is not prepared to defend its national interests.
As this may occur, the nations that are potentially hostile to the United States, will be more likely to go against the U. S. allies and U. S. interests, and will force the United States to enter the combat. As this happens, and in case the U.
S. Armed Forces will not be ready, the country will face a significant threat. On the other hand, in case the U. S.
Armed Forces will be prepared, high level of the U. S. military readiness will force hostile nations to avoid from acting aggressively in regions of vital national interest, thereby preserving peace. (The Facts About Military Readiness) Basically, military readiness indicates the ability of a military unit (for example, carrier battle group, or Army division) to accomplish its assigned mission in a most effective way (The Facts About Military Readiness). As this concept is quite an extensive one, it should be noted that training, logistics, equipment, available spare parts and morale all these aspects are crucial to the military readiness, and, therefore, are extremely important. AWOL or absence without official leave weakens military readiness, as it negative influences the soldiers morale and overall military spirit, being conductive to degradation of the military readiness. According to the article Facts About Military Readiness, there are four grades of the U.
S. Armed Forces readiness, where at the highest level, a unit is prepared to move into position and accomplish its mission, and at the lowest level, a unit requires further manpower, training, equipment, and / or logistics to accomplish its mission. It should be also taken into consideration, that during the past decade, the size of the U. S. Army has been reduced drastically, due to Clinton Administration's reduction of the national defense by more than 500, 000 personnel and $ 50 billion in inflation-adjusted dollars. As such a cut have occurred, the U.
S. Army has lost over 205, 000 soldiers that counted for approximately thirty percent of its staff. At the same time, the number of the U. S. missions has increased drastically throughout the 1990 s. These changes (cut in the number of soldiers and simultaneous increase in military operations and operations tempo) obviously lead to the decreased military readiness.
With the increased intensiveness and the extent of responsibility laid on soldiers, it is very important to maintain high morale among the U. S. militaries. The U.
S. nation needs highly motivated soldiers. At the same time, the soldiers themselves consider that morale in the U. S. Armed Forces is also on the decline, and in the armed forces living conditions for the militaries are poor.
According to the GAO review, conducted in August 1999, over 50 percent of the officers and established personnel were "dissatisfied and intended to leave the military after their current obligation or term of enlistment was up. (The Facts About Military Readiness) Due to drastic reduction in training, only 3 of the 15 reserve brigades in the army are able for real-time attacking enemy positions or defending against attacks. Only 42 percent of reserve mechanized battalions able to meet training standards for firing at moving and stationary targets. Yet another subject at issue is that substandard housing also affects soldiers morale. In its turn, the cases of soldiers' Awol's place obstacles on the way of the U. S.
Army to maintaining well-trained, bright and highly-motivated personnel. At the same time, the military leaders insist on low rates of Awol's among the soldiers and often try to hide themselves from the facts, instead of developing and implementing measures aimed to prevent the cases of Awol's. Further neglect may lead to further degradation of morale and military readiness. The cases of Awol's inherently affect morale, and low morale, in its turn inherently affect military readiness, being a real indicator of the U. S. Armed Forces declining readiness.
In this situation, Awol's may serve as a catalyst in the steady process of degradation of the U. S. Forced Army readiness. No wonder that the U.
S. Government acknowledges the importance of the issue, as Awol's go against the U. S. Army values, and, during the wartime become extremely dangerous, as absence without official leave may put the lives of other U. S. soldiers at high risk.
AWOL: Maximum Punishment Under the Punitive Articles, the maximum punishment is as follows. In case it is found that the member of the U. S. Armed Forces failed to go or going from the appointed place of his (her) duty), the absentee will be punished by a confinement for one month and subsequent forfeiture of two-thirds pay per month for 1 month.
In case it is found that the member of the U. S. Armed Forces was absent from the organization, unit, or other place of duty for not more than three days, the absentee will be punished by confinement for one month and subsequent forfeiture of two-thirds pay per month for 1 month (Punitive Articles - Article 86 Absent without Leave (AWOL) ). In case the accused person was absent for more than three days but not more than 30 days, he (or she) will be punished by confinement for six months and subsequent forfeiture of two-thirds pay per month for 6 months. Finally, in case the accused person was absent for more than thirty days, the punishment will imply dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement for 1 year (Punitive Articles - Article 86 Absent without Leave (AWOL) ), and in case the person was absent for more than thirty days and terminated by apprehension, he will be punished by dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement for 18 months. In case the member of the U.
S. Armed Forces is found absent from guard or watch, under the present Punitive Article, he will be confined for three months and will be punished by forfeiture of two-thirds pay per month for 3 months. In case his absence from guard or watch is done with the intent to abandon, the punishment will imply bad-conduct discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement for 6 months (Punitive Articles - Article 86 Absent without Leave (AWOL) ). Finally, in case the member of the U. S.
Armed Forces is found absent with the intent to avoid maneuvers or field exercises, the maximum punishment will be bad-conduct discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement for six months. Conclusion In conclusion it may be said that the problem of being AWOL, or Absent Without Official Leave, cannot be underestimated, as it is indeed has an extremely negative impact on the readiness of the U. S. Armed Forces. Absent Without Official Leave, defined as the fact of the persons absence from his (or her) post or place of duty for no valid reason, pass or leave, is strictly punished under the. S.
Uniform Code of Military Justice, as AWOL leads to the degradation of the U. S. Army readiness, goes against the U. S. Army values, and, during the wartime becomes extremely dangerous, as it may put the lives of other U. S.
soldiers at high risk. Works Cited Absence Without (Official) Leave. 16 February 2008 < web >. Punitive Articles - Article 86 Absent without Leave (AWOL). 16 February 2008 < web >. The Facts About Military Readiness. 17 February 2008 < web >.
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