[armydawg505]

Retired officer here. The Army did not court martial the wrong person but should court martial them both. An officer can not simply walk away from his troops because he feels bad and may be in a hurry to go to war. He would not stand for his troops doing that and he has to set the example. I’m sorry he is going to prison but better was expected of him.

[Joe 6-pack]

I'm not retired, but resigned my commission during the Clinton years. For the most part, I agree with you completely. When he took a commission, he not only accepted, but committed himself to the onus of leadership. Assuming at his rank at the time he disappeared he was most likely serving as a platoon leader or company XO, he had a lot of eyes upon him, counting on him to set the example. While he may have seen himself as running to the sound of the guns, his subordinates had no way of knowing that, and probably believed he was running from them...not very inspiring leadership, and the perception of cowardice in a leader is every bit as bad as actual cowardice.

Having said that, the FFL is like a tattoo. Granted, enlistments are in five year blocks, but it's one of those things that if you're in for a penny, you'd better be prepared to be in for a pound. It sounds like he had a promising career as a legionnaire, and would have done best to have made a career out of it.

[Jeff Chandler]

The Army did not court martial the wrong person but should court martial them both.

Yep.