Desertion of Duty is the abandonment of a “duty” or post without permission from one’s Government or superior by a soldier or sailor. The term AWOL is an acronym for “Absent Without Leave’, but sometimes desertion is in the soldier’s best interest, however any absconder is in danger of being prosecuted by the military tribunal. The British executed over 306 soldiers for this ‘crime’ during WW 1.
Shot at dawn.
Over 1,000 British soldiers have deserted since the beginning of the Iraq war. Over half of those come after 2005, but an even greater number have chosen another exit strategy by gaining too much weight to qualifiy for combat. Thousands of soliders are unfit and Patrick Mercer MP, head of strategy at the Army Training & Recruiting Agency, said: “This lack of personal fitness is a disgraceful state of affairs. The army is desperately undermanned anyway and for obesity to be a problem is extraordinary.”
How else can soldiers end a war?
By walking off the field alive and fat.
Have another Happy MRE. The life you save might be your own.