645 deserters from Ft. Drum since 9/11
Army deserter, Jeremy Hinzman may have hundreds, if not thousands of compatriots if the Fort Drum numbers apply nationwide
Hoosick Falls soldier taken into custody
Rensselaer County man accused of desertion
WNYT-TV
July 23 - A 20-year-old Rensselaer County soldier accused of desertion from the 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum has been taken into military custody.
The Army says Pvt. Anthony J. Wirmusky, of Hoosick Falls, received permission for emergency leave while he and his unit were stationed in Afghanistan, and then did not return to his base.
............
Sgt. Cain Claxton says Fort Drum has seen 645 warrants for desertion issued since Sept. 11, 2001.
Hmm, sounds like 1970 to me. There may be thousands of potential deserters fleeing the Army, and they're trying to hide the scandal. This is being hidden from the press and probably Congress as well.
This is from the Memory Hole, the website which asks uncomfortable questions via the Freedom of Information Act
My Freedom of Information Act request regarding deserters yielded the following documents from the US Army.
First is a PowerPoint presentation using data from fiscal year 1997 to May 2003. The two-page document is here, or you can view both pages as images below.
Second is an Army information paper regarding deserters. It's available as the original Word document here, and as text at the bottom of this page.
The official numbers:
FY 1997: 2,218
FY 1998: 2,520
FY 1999: 2,966
FY 2000: 3,949
FY 2001: 4,597
FY 2002: 4,021
FY 2003 (to May 2003): 2,096
TOTAL: 22,367
The numbers indicate that 22,000 deserted the Army since 1997, but that's a relatively small number. What Drum's numbers indicate is an increasing pace of desertion from combat units and is becoming a problem. Add in a third tour, and these numbers will explode.
posted by Steve @ 2:49:00 AM
