What Happens If You Go AWOL in the Army: Court-Martial and Discharge

If you go AWOL in the Army, the consequences start on day one and get worse the longer you stay away. Your pay stops the moment your absence is determined to be unauthorized. Within 24 hours, your commander notifies the Provost Marshal and a military police report is generated. At the 30-day mark, you’re reclassified as a deserter and your name goes into a federal law enforcement database that any cop in the country can access. Most cases end in an Other Than Honorable discharge, and the worst end in military prison.

The Clock Starts the Moment You Miss Formation

Article 86 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice covers Absence Without Leave. It applies any time you fail to show up where you’re supposed to be, leave your post without permission, or stay away from your unit without authorization.¹ You don’t have to be gone for days. Technically the clock starts when you miss your appointed place of duty, though the Army doesn’t formally report you as AWOL until 24 hours after that determination.²

Under federal law, you automatically forfeit all pay and allowances for every day you’re absent without authorization. This isn’t a punishment imposed after a hearing. It happens by operation of statute, and it applies retroactively to the first day you were gone.³ Even if you’re later found not guilty or part of the absence is excused, the default is total forfeiture unless the absence is treated as unavoidable.

Your TRICARE coverage lapses while you’re gone. Housing allowance, food allowance, and any special pay all stop. If you have dependents on TRICARE, their coverage situation becomes complicated immediately. The financial hit is swift and total.

The 30-Day Line: When AWOL Becomes Desertion

Desertion is a separate, more serious charge under Article 85. The difference is intent. AWOL means you’re not where you’re supposed to be. Desertion means you left with the intention of never coming back, or you left specifically to dodge hazardous duty or important service.⁴

The Army also has an automatic trigger. If you’ve been AWOL for 30 consecutive days, your unit will reclassify you as a deserter and drop you from the rolls, regardless of what your actual intent was.² At that point, your name gets entered into the FBI’s National Crime Information Center database. This is the same system civilian police query during routine traffic stops and background checks.⁵ Any federal, state, or local officer in the country is now authorized to apprehend you.

For soldiers who had access to classified information or were assigned to sensitive units, the NCIC entry and coordination with the FBI and local law enforcement can happen faster.⁶

The 30-day line matters enormously because desertion carries much harsher penalties, including a dishonorable discharge. The statute sets no specific cap on peacetime confinement for desertion, leaving that to the court-martial. In wartime, desertion can technically be punished by death.⁴

How You Come Back Matters More Than You Think

If you’re AWOL, the way you return will shape everything that happens next.

Turning Yourself In

The Army operates Personnel Control Facilities where AWOL soldiers can surrender. When you arrive, you show ID at the gate, the MPs verify your status, and you’re processed in. Soldiers who aren’t eligible for PCF processing can return directly to their old unit, which sometimes moves things faster because the decision-makers are right there.

Voluntary return doesn’t erase the charge, but commanders and military judges treat it as a sign that you’re taking responsibility. It gives a defense attorney something to work with when negotiating the outcome. Getting admitted to a hospital, including a psychiatric facility, can also constitute a return to military control in some circumstances.

Getting Picked Up

If civilian police apprehend you on the NCIC warrant, expect to sit in a civilian jail for days or even weeks while the Army arranges transportation. Military authorities place a detainer with the civilian facility, notifying them that the Army wants custody when you’re released.⁷

Being apprehended rather than surrendering is treated as an aggravating factor. It signals you had no intention of coming back on your own, and it can increase the maximum punishment at court-martial.

The Disciplinary Options After You’re Back

What happens after you’re back in military control depends on how long you were gone, why you left, and your overall service record.

Article 15 Non-Judicial Punishment

For shorter absences with no aggravating circumstances, your commander may handle things through non-judicial punishment under Article 15. This avoids a court-martial. Depending on the commander’s rank, the possible punishments include extra duty, forfeiture of pay, restriction, correctional custody, and reduction in pay grade.⁸ You have the right to refuse an Article 15 and demand a court-martial instead, though that gamble rarely pays off in a straightforward AWOL case.

Court-Martial

Longer absences, repeat offenses, or AWOL during deployment almost always go to court-martial. Under the current Manual for Courts-Martial, all Article 86 offenses fall under the same punishment category, with a maximum confinement of up to 12 months. This applies whether you were gone 4 days or 4 months, though judges impose heavier sentences for longer absences and for cases terminated by apprehension.¹

Chapter 10: Discharge Instead of Trial

In practice, the most common resolution is a Chapter 10 separation, a voluntary request for discharge in lieu of trial by court-martial. Once charges have been preferred or referred, you can ask the General Court-Martial Convening Authority to discharge you instead of prosecuting. The catch: you must admit guilt to at least one offense that carries a possible punitive discharge.⁹

The discharge you get through Chapter 10 will almost certainly be Other Than Honorable. Honorable discharges through this process are essentially unheard of, and General discharges are rare.⁹ Many soldiers take the deal anyway. It’s a calculated trade: accept an OTH and go home, rather than risk confinement and a punitive discharge from a court-martial conviction.

What the Discharge on Your DD-214 Actually Costs You

The type of discharge you end up with is the single most consequential long-term outcome of going AWOL. It follows you for the rest of your life.

Other Than Honorable (OTH). The most common outcome for AWOL cases resolved through Chapter 10. An OTH strips your reemployment rights under USERRA, so the civilian employer you left has no obligation to take you back. You lose GI Bill eligibility and most traditional VA benefits. The VA does allow veterans with OTH discharges to apply for healthcare for certain conditions, including service-connected mental health issues, conditions related to military sexual trauma, and combat-related mental health care.¹⁰¹¹
Bad Conduct Discharge (BCD). A punitive discharge that can only be imposed by a special or general court-martial. It terminates USERRA rights and VA benefits eligibility. On job applications a BCD raises immediate red flags, and most employers in government or security-related fields will disqualify you outright.¹⁰
Dishonorable Discharge (DD). Reserved for the most serious offenses and only handed down by a general court-martial. Beyond losing all VA benefits and USERRA protections, a dishonorable discharge makes it a federal crime for you to possess firearms or ammunition under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(6). VA benefits are barred by regulation for anyone discharged as a deserter or by sentence of a general court-martial. The stigma is comparable to a felony conviction in the civilian world.¹²¹³

Talk to a Military Defense Attorney Before You Do Anything

The Army will give you a defense attorney at no cost. The U.S. Army Trial Defense Service provides full legal representation to soldiers facing adverse action, including courts-martial, Article 15 proceedings, and involuntary separation boards. TDS attorneys are licensed military lawyers who are completely independent from your chain of command. Your commander’s legal advisor has no access to what you tell them, and all communications are privileged.¹⁴

If you’re currently AWOL and thinking about turning yourself in, contacting TDS before you surrender is one of the smartest moves you can make. A defense attorney can walk you through what to expect, tell you whether a Chapter 10 request makes sense for your situation, and represent you through whatever comes next. You can also hire a civilian military defense lawyer at your own expense, but TDS representation is competent and available to every soldier facing charges.

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 10 USC 886 – Art 86 Absence Without Leave
2
Defense Military Pay Office (DMPO) – Fort Benning. Absence Without Leave (AWOL) / Dropped From Rolls (DFR)
3
U.S. Government Accountability Office. B-192444 Entitlement to Pay and Allowances of Member in Unauthorized Absence Status
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 10 USC 885 – Art 85 Desertion
5
Army Resilience Directorate. Law Enforcement Reporting
6
GovInfo. Desertion – Subpart C
7
GovInfo. Absentee Deserter Apprehension Program and Surrender of Military Personnel to Civilian Law Enforcement Agencies
8
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 10 USC 815 – Art 15 Commanding Officers Non-Judicial Punishment
9
Fort Carson. Chapter 10 Request for Discharge in Lieu of Trial by Courts-Martial
10
U.S. Department of Labor. USERRA Fact Sheet 3 – Separations from Uniformed Service
11
VA.gov. OTH Enrollment – ChooseVA
12
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts
13
eCFR. 38 CFR 3.12 – Benefit Eligibility Based on Character of Discharge
14
JAGCNet. United States Army Trial Defense Service