navy rap duty

Navy Rap Duty - The increase in Navy desertions could indicate a bigger problem for military Navy desertions which will more than double from 2019 to 2021. An expert said the increase could be an indicator of an underlying problem : Military members stuck in lines of work they don't like. .

Sailors are seen aboard the USS George Washington in Yokosuka, Japan in 2011. The U.S. Navy has seen an increase in desertions, with the number more than doubling from 2019 to 2021.

Navy Rap Duty

In 2021, 157 sailors illegally left the US Navy, more than double the number who left the force in 2019. Although all but eight eventually returned to their units, a military legal expert said an increase spectacular desertions is probably a more important sign. . publish.

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The Navy had seen an increase in desertions over the previous three years. In 2019, 63 sailors fled their duty station, and another 98 did so in 2020, Navy spokesman Lt. Cmdt. Devin Arneson, said. The number of independent separatists decreased between 2017 and 2019.

But other branches of the military have not seen similar increases in the past three years. Military desertions fell 47%, from 328 in 2019 to 174 in 2021, and the Marine Corps reported 59 in 2019 and 31 in 2021. The Coast Guard said it only recorded no desertions between 2019 and 2021.

Arneson said he could not speculate on the increase in desertions from the Navy or why a sailor would choose to self-isolate — an unauthorized absence in which a service member does not intend to come back. This is a serious offense that can result in dishonest dismissal, forfeiture of wages, loss of benefits, and jail time.

But a former JAG officer - with more than 11 years' experience in military justice - said the issue underscores the harsh reality of some military personnel who seemingly find themselves stuck in a line of work they don't like to be tied to. to a multi-year contract.

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Stephanie Kral spent more than seven years in the Air Force as a lawyer. He served as lead trial attorney and defense attorney before leaving the service to work as a civil and military defense attorney. He said most of the servicemen due to leave were junior members who had limited options if their military experience turned out to be different from what they expected.

And while there are solutions — like medical leave for people with health conditions that prevent them from performing their duties — the waters around mental health are somewhat murky.

"Someone who is going through an acute mental health crisis... shouldn't result in a mental health discharge," Kral said. "What should happen is that they get the care and treatment they need to prepare to regain their sanity and then become part of the fleet again. Unfortunately, that's not always what we see. ."

Arneson said in a prepared statement that the Navy recognizes that sailors are subject to a variety of stressful situations throughout their service and that each member's mental health is an important component of mission success.

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But Kral said sailors, Marines, soldiers and other service members often don't have access to the help they need.

"No matter what high-level leaders say about trying to erase the stigma of mental health in our service, it's not going to work when you get to the entry level or the real-life experiences platform level. junior service members," Kral said.

Members who feel trapped by their contracts find themselves in a precarious situation. They can stay in a job they hate and wait for their contract to expire; they may be defectors—refugees on the run; or, in the most extreme circumstances, they may choose to kill themselves, Kral said.

Kral said if desertion is a problem, then maybe the military needs to explore other options on how to handle people who want to leave the service.

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“Right now, the ability to release or terminate contracts early is essentially entirely in the hands of the grand navy, the grand air force, the grand army. They are the ones who can take the decisions," Kral said. "So that puts the military in a position of power to, frankly, just abuse their people [and] not give them resources [and] put them in a situation like on the [USS] George Washington."

Kral was referring to a series of suicides aboard an aircraft carrier undergoing major repairs in Virginia. Three sailors aboard the USS George Washington took their own lives in a week in April, prompting an investigation expected to be published next year, the US Naval Institute reported.

Leaders should consider no longer incentivizing junior military personnel to pursue long-term military careers, Kral said, and instead offer an exit to those who no longer want to serve. He also acknowledged that the Department of Defense has a job to do and allows the military to go when hard times don't coincide with an effective military.