Deserters in T2K

[Webstral]

I think one has to bear in mind, too, the circumstances under which the soldier parted from his unit joins another one. Units in combat or even on the move produce stragglers. Stragglers can't always make it back to their original unit. At one end of the spectrum, you have a soldier who was cut off from his unit in 1st Brigade who manages to link up with a unit in 3rd Brigade. His original unit declares him a deserter because no one saw him captured or killed. Word reaches 3rd Brigade, where the soldier has been serving lately. After the nuclear exchange, it's hard to believe this would be counted against the soldier.

On the other hand, you have soldiers who disappear while the unit is in cantonment and not otherwise unduly stressed. When they turn up in civilian garb and get carted back to their unit in handcuffs, obviously a lengthy period in the labor battalion is in store.

I keep coming back to the soldier who finds himself separated from his unit but finds a way to stay in the fight. It would be an annoyance to US commanders to discover an American tanker serving on a British tank crew in 2000. On the other hand, the characterization of his service by the Brits should go a long way towards framing the attitude of the US chain of command that discovers him. If the Brits don't want to give him up, he's likely been doing what a soldier is supposed to be doing for an allied force.

Americans discovered fighting for the other side definitely should be treated as deserters. Maybe that really was the only way to survive. Nonetheless, one makes one's choices.

Enemy deserters are another story entirely. I'm sure when resources exist to vet them, deserters are scrutinized for categorization as assets, enemy agents, or simply unreliable.

[simonmark6]

I'm not one hundred per cent sure on how it would be dealt with in the Twilight war, but it's a matter close to my heart given the circumstances of my family in the Second World War in this case my Great Uncles, Bobby and Robby (they were brothers and the similarity of the names came from the fact that my Great-great Grandmother was deaf and dumb but she could make the sounds of those two names).

Bobby joined the Army in 1935 and deserted in early 1936. He had been accused of murdering two girls whilst on leave and did a runner (later it was found that he hadn't done the crime but at the time the evidence was pretty strong). He ran to the chaos of Spain and served for a while in the Civil War there before heading to China to run guns. When the war started he had been cleared of murder and headed to Hong Kong to rejoin the army. He was treated as a deserter and shipped to a military prison in Australia.
After serving three years in prison he was discharged despite his experience and a lack of personnel in the army.
My Uncle Robby joined up at the start of the war and became what he called a professional retreater. He started off in Dunkirk and then Greece before heading back and forth in Africa for a few years. He was separated from his unit seven times and ended up hopping from the Engineers to the Artillery to several Infantry units. At the end of his service in 1947 in Palestine he was told by his unit commander that an application for a medal he had sent in had been rejected because of the black marks against him for straggling so many times.
Either of these could happen in the Twilight war but suggest that stragglers wouldn't be welcomed with open arms by the brass. Individual groups however could be more accepting of stragglers.

[stormlion1]

I know in Europe that troops got lost from there units on occasion and usually when they found another unit they just reported in. Usually they were just told to join a squad and the LT or Captain in charge would just report back to the rear he found so-and-so and drafted him into his unit. I remember reading about this happening a lot in the early days of France and during the Battle of the Bulge. Including one gent who ended up serving in several different units over a three week period and finally ended up in a artillery company for the rest of the war.

As for the Twilight War there is no rear anymore and once the 'your on your own speech' happens there really is no US Military anymore either but for what the troops make for themselves. The Generals won't just leave after all but try to hold things together for as long as they can. So probably they will keep things together and attempt to use military justice with deserters on a case by case basis. Either shooting definite deserters or putting them in with other units as replacements.

[Olefin]

Keep in mind that the "you are on your own" speech really only applied to the 5th division - they were overrun and destroyed so as has been said before they didn't desert - the division deserted them. Realistically in any situation where it becomes a "save yourself" situation like that there is no desertion per se. However the rest of the U.S. Army was still intact - thus taking off from say the 1st Infantry is a totally different situation.

[Raellus]

Amnesties: a useful, low-cost recruiting/anti-marauder tool in the later years of the Twilight War.

Spreading the word would be an interesting little mission. IIRC, I had a old PAF AN-2 Cub dropping flyers on behalf of the Lublin Government in a campaign that I ran.

[CDAT]

Two thoughts, first years ago I was reading a book (do not remember name) about the Battle of Chosin Reservoir. At the end of the book it picked one engineer company that was disbanded after the war and listed every single piece of equipment they turned in. Last item was Sherman tank platoon with crews. I have never seen any MTOE that has tanks in the engineers.

Second back before I got out of the guard I was told that if something major happened we were expected to report to the nearest armory even if it was not our own. They would try to get us back to our unit but it could take time. What would they call that I wounder In my case I was a EOD Sergeant and the nearest unit was Combat Engineers, how quick would they be to get rid of the explosives experience I had Also my brother lived near me and he was a tank platoon sergeant what would they even do with him

[Webstral]

Two thoughts, first years ago I was reading a book (do not remember name) about the Battle of Chosin Reservoir. At the end of the book it picked one engineer company that was disbanded after the war and listed every single piece of equipment they turned in. Last item was Sherman tank platoon with crews. I have never seen any MTOE that has tanks in the engineers.

Good leaders understand that the chaos of war makes a mess of the bureaucracy. Poor leaders put the integrity of the bureaucracy ahead of the reality on the battlefield and fair play for the troops. Unfortunately, poor leaders often rise to prominence in peace time and are only shaken out when the stakes are high enough for reality to trump bureaucratic concerns.