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Soldier gets seven months for desertion while on leave from Iraq

May-14-2008 » Filed Under: 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment

By Seth Robson, Stars and Stripes

VILSECK, Germany – A 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment soldier who deserted while on midtour leave from Iraq will spend the next seven months in confinement.

At a court-martial Tuesday in Vilseck, Pfc. Robert J. Weis pleaded guilty to desertion and missing movement.

In an unsworn statement, Weis, 20, told the court he joined the Army motivated by a desire to protect America from Islamic extremists. However, soon after he joined, his sister’s fiance was killed in a fight at a party, he said.

"I decided to make myself a better person so I didn’t wind up in hell," he said. "I started reading the Bible. Everything I read told me not to kill people. There are better ways to solve problems than fighting."

The young soldier applied for a discharge as a conscientious objector but deployed to Iraq in July last year before the matter was settled, he said.

"After a while, they told me my application for a discharge was turned down," he said. [...]

The judge sentenced Weis to seven months’ confinement, forfeiture of $898 per month for seven months, reduction to private and a bad-conduct discharge.


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