Legal Question in Military Law in North Carolina

Re: Being AWOL

No problem in the military gets better while you're awol. It only gets worse. You now have more than just yourself to think about. You have to do the right thing and get back to military control immediately.

Every year hundreds of women have babies while in the military. While they must make contingency plans to deal with child care should they become deployable, the fact is that lots of mothers wear combat boots, and while that used to be an insult, it is now a compliment.

While your ability to seek a discharge based on a pregnancy status may exist, you are far more likely to get a discharge for misconduct which can haunt you for the rest of your life. That's why its important for you to go back to the military right away, and get this AWOL issue taken care of. Commanders do understand that sometimes people make bad decisions when confronted with what seems like an unsolvable problem.

Get the AWOL handled, and then, if you feel compelled to do so, ask for a discharge because of your pregnancy. JAG can assist you in handling the AWOL issue.

Good luck.