AWOL But Not Underground

This guy needs to get over himself. In all reality a cook in a Natty Guard unit wouldn't even leave the wire of whatever FOB he's on. This dude, in my opinion, joined because he saw it as a solution to his financial problems, understandable. Finish out your Natty Guard time and collect a paycheck while you sit on a FOB spending your time in between the chow hall and the PX, not doing anything except for playing video games in your Choo and feeding shitty food to dudes who have to go outside the wire. By the way bud, I can almost guarantee that you'd never find yourself in a TIC where you'd actually have to hop up on your .50(which cooks apparently use all the time?) and start dumping.

Michael’s story is one pathetic tale of a pathetic individual. But one that needed to be told at the same time. “I couldn’t imagine to kill to protect those directly around me”. Point taken. Crawl up in a hole and kill yourself. Michael, I hear if you take enough aspirin at one time you just die a slow painful death over a months time. A month sounds too long to me. You might be able to afford aspirin. Sounds suitable for you to me. Keep working at your coffee shop job with your “AWOL beard”. What a great disguise. Get a clue, nobody is looking for you. You might be an outlaw on the run but you are not running. You will just be some old hobo with a weak story to tell about how you dodged a draft that wasn’t there. I hope only your mother pities you. Might be too much pity.
Do you want to know why a lot of soldiers volunteer to go back over there and fight? It is because of people like you. They go because of people like you will only get others hurt and demoralize other soldiers. I am glad that you are not over there even though you made the commitment and falsely backed out. You are weak minded and you will only hurt yourself and those around you.
As for me, I serve my country proudly. I know for a fact you would have never shot a .50 cal down range and will have never been put in any direct fire missions. You also never would make it as a terp so believe that that is the reason why they made you a cook. And you had “high test scores” too right? Ha Ha. Come do what I do. I am glad we will probably never meet. For your sake.

Hardly know where to begin. I hate the lie of an all volunteer Armed Forces, because volunteers should be able to unvolunteer. I strongly support instituting mandatory service but service that allows everyone to earn the right to be an American citizen and it would be a great path for immigrants too. People are naive to believe they can reap the benefits of service and not be at the mercy of the needs of that service. However, the Armed Forces needs to be more accomodating to allow people to serve in a capacity they can reconcile within themselves. That said, only an egocentric idiot would think it appropriate to take $20,000 to sit in the rear with the gear. I'm tired of tax dollars being spent to make someone feel they're special. If you want the benefits you assume the risk. Unfortunately the Armed Forces are meeting their recruitment goals thanks largely to "socioeconomic volunteers" who weren't lucky enough to have the means to withstand the crisis created by "Wall Street". This is unfortunate not only for those who fall into that category but for all who have ever chosen to assume the risks and answer the call of duty. Yes I am a veteran with 21 years of honorable service. I have seen the deception on the part of the military as well as the manipulation or at least attempted manipulation and abuse by individuals. It is also ridiculous to imply that someone must be a killer to serve. Most of us can envision circumstances where we would do things we consider extraordinary like taking a life to protect ourselves or our loved ones and we are no more or less killers than those who serve and are put into such extraordinary circumstances. I admire those with the strength of their comvictions but believing something doesn't make it so. I more admire those who are willing to open themselves to other possibilities and realize it's not a black and white world.

What part of "Army" escapes this guy? There are two wars and countless security operations going on all over the world. He thinks he's going to join and remain safe and cozy? Wake up, hippy!

The military goes places and kills people. Even if you're a cook or in intelligence, your job all boils down to somebody in the field putting a bullet, bomb, rocket or missile in the right head, bunker, or terrorist hideout. You cannot join the military and not be responsible for killing the enemy because every single job in the military is either in the field or supporting the work in the field. Yes, people, even the latest Nobel Peace Prize winner, being the Commander-in-Chief, has a hand in the killing.

Bragging about your intelligence and then being suckered by a less educated recruiter and not realizing the army kills, is just a little contradictory.

Sooooooo, your calling the national guard all natural born killers??? Brilliant statement. Bet you didn't score high in any tests. If he's so smart he should have realized that we are at war with terrorists in Iraq and Afghanistan and there was a possibility of being shipped out. Here's a thought. If you want to reap the rewards of living in this great country than why wouldn't you want to protect it from terrorists trying to destroy it??? Maybe both of you should join forces and move to Switzerland.
You see, the national guard and the rest of the armed forces are risking their lives for the freedoms you enjoy. They aren't natural born killers, they are patriots who are trying to protect their families from further acts of violence against the USA.

I DONT THINK MICHEAL WAS WRONG, IF HE SCORED THAT HI, ON HIS EXAM, Y THE HELL WOULD THEY WANT SOME1, THAT SMART KILLING ON THE BATTLE FIELD. THIS WORLD IS ALWAYS PUTTING PRESSURE ON YOUNG MEN, TO DO SOMETHING, THEY DONT WANNA DO..... THEY SHOULD TAKE THE $20,000 BACK, IF THEY GAVE IT 2 HIM, AND LET HIM GO ON HIS WAY........ NO HE IS NOT A COWArd ... he is human... .... IF HE MADE IT CLEAR, HE DONT WANNA KILL SOMEONE ... THEN THEY SHOULD HAVE JUST KICKED HIM OUT ... THATS IT ...HE WILL DO MORE HARM STAYING IN THE NATIONAL GUARD ..... JUST LEAVE HIM THE FUCK ALONE .... NOT EVERY 1 N THIS WORLD IS A NATURAL BORN KILLER ....... AND U CANT BRAIN WASH SOME 2 BECOME 1 ...

Hope they catch this lowlife and throw him in the brig. He's a disgrace to the men and women who joined, (just like he did), and are risking their lives protecting this great country. GOD bless our troops and GOD DAMN this coward!!

I think this guy is a coward and a moran. Who joins the military and thinks they are not going to deploy or use a weapon? Grow up. Everyone knows recruiters bs people and you get a written contract with what you want or you don't sign. You have to check things out on your own and be resposible for your own life. If you have a problem with killing, you don't join the military. Great way to support your fellow soldiers, not shoot?? Nothing is free in life, and the bonuses they are giving now are not for cowards. My Thanks to all of our brave men and women who are strong enough and believe in our freedom enough to do what is necessary. Where would we be if they all were like this piece of work?

Very well produced piece. Check out this pod: http://current.com/items/90942192_through-stills-of-life-the-annenberg-space-for...

I think the guy didn't think this out very well. Who joins the military and thinks that you may not go to a dangerous part of the world. As a cook, he would be issued a weapon but odds are he would never use it against another person. I kinda feel bad for him. To get to be his age and not have a clear thought process. Very sad. I''m thinking the army isn't looking very hard for him.
I have a question, Did he get the $20,000?

When you join the military, chances are pretty good you're going to have try to shoot at someone or something during your military career.

Who the hell joins the military thinking he will never be in combat?!?

I think this guy wanted a way out of financial trouble and saw a quick way out...

He should've tried doing porn, it pays and it's better than shooting people.

I think this guy is pretty much a coward and do not feel bad for him one bit. He made a choice, nobody can coerce a man in his mid twenties into anything, no matter how desperate they may be. Nobody in their right mind should believe that if they enlist they will never deploy. Hello, there are two wars going on.

The recruiter made it sound like it was in his best interest to sign up and he took the bait. He also took the $20,000 they put in his bank acount.

As far as him having to use a .50 cal machine in Iraq or Afghanistan there is no chance. If he signed up as a cook, as sad as that is, he will be a cook.

Now his life is pretty messed up for no reason. If he wanted out there are other ways of going about getting out other than going AWOL. This guy should have used better decision making all around. He really needs to think long and hard about the choices he makes.

Military recruiters know that they can't be held accountable for lying to recruits, and they have a cash incentive to get people to sign. People with an aversion to killing can still be employed in the military - for example, medics or doctors or lawyers. But honesty is the key. Lying demoralizes the volunteer troops, and recruiters who lie should be court martialed.

Recruiter conversations in person or over the phone should be tape recorded and stored for two years so that when this sort of "he said-she said" pops up, there is evidence of what actually happened. I personally was told almost exclusively lies when I was enlisting at age 17. No one without a law degree can be expected to understand the 60+ page enlistment contracts by themselves, and the only aid they get are people in uniform with incentives to get you to sign.

Great vid.

My father was in the National Guard, but he AWOL'd after Kent. State cost him his friends and his community's respect for him.

He always regretted it, but their actions were "not what he signed up to support and protect".