387
An Anonymous DC National Guardsman Tells All - “This is not what I signed up to do.”
(washingtonian.com)
this post was submitted on 23 Jan 2026
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That sort of thing goes on your record though. You don't simply leave the service without the government knowing. They will literally put a warrant out for your arrest
I think statute of limitations on most of the common ucmj articles maxes out at 5 years? It's been a while, but short version is a cousin of a friend went awol and basically hid on a shrimping boat for years until they couldn't come after him anymore. Not easy for sure.
Wait a minute, wasn't that a scene from Forrest Gump? 🍤
I don’t think anyone went AWOL in forest gump
Okay well this happened like 40 years ago , and he got a good job and house and wife and kids starting 35 years ago, so he's apparently unscathed by his AWOL shenanigans. He ran away in the middle of basic training. He couldn't hang with it. Apparently they let it slide.