Army captures AWOL soldier after Mojave Desert hunt

AP ^ | January 22 2006

[jmc1969]

An Army Ranger absent without leave after serving in Iraq and Afghanistan was captured on a remote mountaintop by military and local searchers who had been scouring the Mojave Desert region for days.

Andrew Stone, 20, of Wisconsin abandoned his car Friday and took area maps into the wilderness. He was listed as AWOL by the Army and may face criminal charges in Georgia, where Stone is stationed, the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department said.

Led by two Army Black Hawk helicopters, searchers on horseback and off-road vehicles found Stone on a peak Sunday south of the Mojave National Preserve, sheriff's Deputy Dave Pichotta said.

Some 50 searchers from Barstow, Morongo Basin, Needles, Victor Valley, Wrightwood and Yucaipa participated in the hunt. Stone has no known ties to the area, about 90 miles south of Las Vegas near the California-Arizona border.

[BurbankKarl]

I bet it was one of Col. Trautman's men....

John Rambo Jr. most likely.

[Candor7]

This soldier was ordered to do something he refused to do.

And they decided to can him.

He is likely an opsec risk. And they wouldn't have found him unless he wanted to be found, unless he had a covert bionic tracking device somewhere unknown to im.

[ReignOfError]

The Mojave Desert is nice this time of year.

"Nice" if you think that the combination of sunburn and hypothermia balance each other nicely.

[ReignOfError]

He is likely an opsec risk. And they wouldn't have found him unless he wanted to be found, unless he had a covert bionic tracking device somewhere unknown to im.

What, you mean something like a GPS chip injected into his butt disguised as an anthrax vaccine? (/art-bell)

[msnimje]

He thought he was going to hide from the people who taught him how to hide?

[BrewCity187]

To tell you the truth i grew up with this guy, he has been to both Iraq and Afghanistan. he has had two and a half years to be in both bc I'm pretty sure he did his basic the year before his senior year, he entered the Ranger program after his two campaigns both of which were only 7 months and some change. possibly the nicest person anyone could ever meet. throughout his entire life all he wanted to be was an Army Ranger, and you know what he did it, he completed the 57 or 50 sum odd day course that most only dream of finishing. if he didn't want to be found trust me he would not have. they teach you things in that program that most of you Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts only dream of ever knowing. I'm guessing he only needed time to clear his head because i know him, if he was running from trouble he would have fought and he would not still be in the states. there were rumors around our city going around about how he ditched his car in Georgia and left for Iraq to go live there as a citizen, and there were rumors that he ditched his car some where near California and was still in the states. now people in our city know that he is actually in the states and still alive and safe. he probably will be charged with going AWOL and during wartime it is a severe crime and he will probably face jail time, i just hope that his superiors go easy on him and realize that he was just confused. the same thing happened to this other guy i know except he got trapped in an Airport in Michigan and missed his redeployment date and he got help back in the states for like another month because of it. so Maybe he just didn't wanna go back right away, after all once you have seen war, it will change your whole perception on life. but all of you who talk bad about him need to realize that you don't know anything about him. and half of you probably have never or will never or don't know anyone who has served time in the armed forces or especially anytime in a war. so its like your mother told you when you were 5, think before you speak

[Stone Mountain]

Insider ping?

[concentric circles]

People here were just reacting to the incongruity of an intense search for what seemed to be a low level offense.

There was nothing in the news story to personalize the events and evoke a more humane response.

You have provided a little personal detail and that certainly goes a long way toward making Mr. Stone flesh and blood rather than just a bit of ink in a news story. I appreciate your taking the time to do this and I hope that Stone's situation is resolved fairly, with special consideration for the service that he has already tendered.

The following is from the Riverside Press-Enterprise:

"He was in good health, with a backpack stocked with rations, water and survival gear, Wiltshire said."

"Stone was debriefed by Army officials and called his family before being taken to Fort Irwin, an Army base near Barstow, and released to the Provost Marshal's Office, Wiltshire said."

http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_B_awol23.21027c3.html