AWOL GI Sent Home Instead of To Jail
Jim Burns
Senior Staff Writer
(CNSNews.com) - A teenage soldier who was absent without leave from the Army for nearly a year won't be spending time in jail waiting for a determination of his fate.
Instead, 19-year-old Wilfredo Torres is back home in Rochester, N.Y. after being released from Fort Knox, Ky., following his surrender to military authorities in Virginia earlier this month.
Torres said he went AWOL from the Army last November during his basic training at Fort Benning, Ga., because he wanted no part of a possible U.S. invasion of Iraq.
Torres surrendered Nov.11 to U.S. Military Police at Fort Myer, Va., and was incarcerated overnight before being transferred to Fort Knox.
Attorney Tod Ensign, who represents Torres, said the teenager is trying to obtain an other-than-honorable discharge from the Army.
Ensign, who also heads a veterans rights advocacy group called Citizen Soldier, said Torres was released from Fort Knox, the primary Army facility for AWOL soldiers, after being incarcerated for less than a week.
According to Ensign, Torres spent five days locked-up, but an Army spokesman said Torres spent seven days in custody before being allowed to return home. "They didn't even give him money for a bus ticket," said Ensign.
No Hard Time for Desertion
As for why Torres is home and not in a military jail, Army spokesman Lt. Col. Ryan Santis said Torres was released instead of jailed in order "to balance good order and discipline in the service," which he said has always been Army policy.
"In this situation," Santis said, "it was apparent that the decision was made that the soldier had not completed his training, had been on active duty in good standing for just a little over two months and had been away from the Army for well over a year."
"It was in the best interests of the Army and wise use of taxpayer dollars to separate him from the service and end his relationship with the Army," said Santis, who added it has always been Army policy to judge each discharge on a case-by-case basis.
"Given Mr. Torres' utterances and those of his lawyer concurrent with his voluntary return, it was apparent that he had no intention of meeting the honorable obligations of his contract and he wanted nothing more than to be separated from the Army," he said.
"The Army, in this case, chose to exercise its option and sever its relationship with Mr. Torres and return him to civilian status," said Santis.
A Foreign Policy of One?
Shortly before his surrender, Torres told CNSNews.com he was ready to accept the consequences of his actions, even if it meant a dishonorable discharge from the Army.
"Since I left Fort Benning, Georgia, last November, I thought about our country's foreign policy and my potential role as a soldier. I have decided that it will be wrong for our country to attack Iraq on its own, without working as part of the U.N.," Torres said.
Even though the United Nations Security Council unanimously passed a resolution authorizing the use of force against Iraq under certain circumstances, Torres remains convinced that the U.S. wants to invade Iraq on its own.
"I'm no expert, but I think such an attack will undermine the U.N. and affect America's standing in the world," the teenager said earlier this month.
Torres could not be reached Monday for further comment on the story.
Lt. Col. Ryan Yantis, an Army spokesman at the Pentagon, confirmed that Torres was on active duty until going AWOL in November 2001. He was released from custody last Tuesday.
Without commenting directly on the Torres, case, Yantis noted that the Army Oath of Enlistment, taken by Torres and all other recruits prior to basic training, states, "I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me."
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