"According to this AP story, 9 in every 1,000 soldiers "went AWOL" in fiscal ending September 30, 2007. In the year ended September 30, 2006, nearly 7 per 1,000 were AWOL. The article uses the terms AWOL and desertion interchangeably even though they are not the same."
The A-T web site gives the rate for 97-04:
ARMY
| 1997 | 2,218 | 4.58 per 1,000 | ||
| 1998 | 2,520 | 5.20 per 1,000 | ||
| 1999 | 2,966 | 6.13 per 1,000 | ||
| 2000 | 3,949 | 8.16 per 1,000 | ||
| 2001 | 4,597 | 9.50 per 1,000 | ||
| 2002 | 4,483 | 9.26 per 1,000 | ||
| 2003 | 3,678 | 7.60 per 1,000 | ||
| 2004 | 2,376 | 4.91 per 1,000 |
"Look at the above rates of Army desertion in the years just prior to the Iraq war. Years 2000, 2001, and 2002 (8.16, 9.5, 9.26) show higher rates than we have had during this terrible quagmire of an Iraq war, with its multiple tours of duty.
Why doesn't AP correspondent Lolita C. Baldur discuss that?
Powers states that in the fiscal year the Iraq war began (the invasion was March 2003) the desertion rate was 7.6 per 1,000, the same as 2006, a terrible year for the U.S. in Iraq. The AP article seems to be confused as to fiscal years. According to Powers, the desertion rate was quite low, 4.91, for fiscal year 2004 (from October 1, 2003 through September 30, 2004), not fiscal 2003 as stated in the AP article"....[more]
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