If they discharge him, I think it’s all over. Hamdaniya (sp) proved they can bring a discharged soldier to trial for a capital offense committed while on active duty, but I don’t think that law applies to any offense. They would have to find a way to directly link him to the deaths of those searching for him. If they ever proved he did attack Americans, they could probably bring him back for trial for that, but there’s nothing I’ve read that even suggests that.
Don’t US Army General Orders provide for the death penalty for leaving a sentry/guard post on the battlefield?
This guy didn’t wander off base to smoke some weed or chug a beer. He abandoned his SAW and other kit in the middle of the night at a forward combat post, made his way past the concertina wire without alerting the rest of the guard and continued on with compass in hand headed in a specific direction.
All this in one of the most desolate and dangerous areas of afghanistan. Do a Google image search with terms: Paktika FOB.
It looks like the moon, little vegetation or visible soil, just rocks any one of which could have rolled the wrong way and alerted his unit.
I just can’t see how he can escape the desertion charge. It almost as if his every action checked all the boxes and damn, the guy scored a hundred. Old vets have told me he could have tried and executed right there on the spot.