Army Desertion Rates Up 80 Percent

Soldiers deserting the Army has increased by 80 percent since the United States invaded Iraq in 2003. Even though the totals are lower than during the Vietnam War, there is still a steady increase over the last four years and a 42 percent increase since last year.

A deserter is considered somebody that has been absent without leave for more than 30 days. The soldier would be discharged as a deserter. In total, 4698 soldiers deserted this year and 3301 deserted last year. Over 75 percent of the deserters are males in their first term of enlistment.

It is believed that the increase is due to many soldiers serving repeated and lengthy tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. They want to increase the number of soldiers in the Army and Marine Corps to give soldiers more time off between deployments,

There are four ways that a soldier can leave the Army before their enlistment contract is up. They can leave if they are considered unable to meet physical fitness requirements, if they are not able to adapt to the military, they say they are gay and are required to leave under the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, or if they desert by going AWOL.