I am ashamed to have the 82nd Airborne linked to this guy. I am sorry but there is no way you don’t know what you are getting into when you join the Army. Being a veteran that served in the 82nd I feel it was a privilege to serve in a unit of this caliber. This is a direct slap in the face of all the other soldiers that silently leave their families and do the right thing and serve their country. I am pretty sure the 82nd is glad to be rid of this guy. But maybe a better solution is to send the coward back to his unit and let them distribute the appropriate level of justice to his guy.
4th 325th AIR 82nd Airborne

As a proud Canadian, I would just like to say 'GOOD'.

But maybe a better solution is to send the coward back to his unit and let them distribute the appropriate level of justice to his guy.

The commies had penal units send them to the most dangerous places or something.

As if he was deployed anywhere else he would have gone... This has nothing to do with Iraq. I believe a great deal of these deserters though the army was a summer camp. They'd go, they'd get buff, and they'd tell BS warstories for the rest of their life... But then war broke out...oh oh!

When you join the army you sacrifice a certain degree of freedom. This is one of the reasons its called a SACRIFICE. The army spends alot of money to train, house and feed you. They do this so that the nation is prepared should a war come. They do this so that when they COMMAND YOU into battle, you are ready.

After they have invested money, food, water, shelter and training into you - YOU OWE THEM - yes, YOU OWE THEM! This is no secret, this is clearly stated on your signup forms, this is never hidden or sugar coated. You are at the whim of your commander in chief. The army is a collective and in a collective the rights of the individual are trumped by the rights of the collective.

Anyone who says they "did not know" is a liar, besides, since when is ignorance a defence (don't get me wrong, I wish it was! I mean, I didn't know I had to pay the Visa balance at the end of the month, I thought you swipe it and you magically get your items for free!)...

Penal units... Sounds like good medicine but I'd rather not put a weapon into a person like this hand. War is variable and unpredictable, imagine if these units were called to back you up, or your sons... Forget it, throw 'em in the brig, and when they get out make them pay back every single penny that went into feeding, housing and training them. That is a just desert for a deserter of this type.