This guy is not a deserter, he is a terrorist sympathizer and a Traitor.
HE needs to be locked up in Gitmo right next his Al Qaeda and Taliban buddies, or at least get locked up in Leavenworth for the rest of his days
Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ)
ART. 85. DESERTION
(a) Any member of the armed forces who—
(1) without authority goes or remains absent from his unit, organization, or place of duty with intent to remain away therefrom permanently;
(2) quits his unit, organization, or place of duty with intent to avoid hazardous duty or to shirk important service; or
(3) without being regularly separated from one of the armed forces enlists or accepts an appointment in the same or another on of the armed forces without fully disclosing the fact that he has not been regularly separated, or enters any foreign armed service except when authorized by the United States;
is guilty of desertion.