A buddy of mine did a brief stay at Leavenworth. That's where they send people arrested for desertion from the Army. My buddy had been out of the military for ten years. We were ROTC cadets together. The school never gave him his final set of orders. Both of us were screw-ups and not exactly the favorites of the officers running the ROTC program. He still thinks they lost those orders on purpose.
Ten years go by. He's working in LA, suit and tie executive job. He took a cruise with his family, and got picked up by border patrol coming back for an outstanding warrant for desertion. He was immediately fired from his job, and spent a month in LA county jail, probably the worst county jail in the country. They finally got him to Leavenworth, shaved his head, called him 'private' (35 y/o private), and made him stand in formation. They then told him it would take six months to get him out of the Army, gave him an ID, and let him go.
He got the last laugh, though. He went to a military hospital and had $20,000 worth of dental surgery done for free during that six months.
I was a little scared I had my own warrant out. Eventually, I managed to find out that I did not, but that was surprisingly difficult. They don't just tell you that information over the phone. The procedure is to go to the police station, get fingerprinted and locked up, and then they will let you know. That didn't sound fun to me. I was eventually able to find a friend of a friend who was a US Marshal and was able to check for me. My buddy was prior service before rotc, and I wasn't. I think that was the only reason I didn't get my own free vacation to Club Leavenworth.
|