Timothy J. Learn arrested for being AWOL in Ithaca

Raymond Drumsta (The Ithaca Journal) reports that 21-year-old Timothy J. Learn had a warrant issued June 23, 2007 for his arrest on the charges of desertion from his unit (1st Brigade Combat Team of the 10 Mountain Division) which was set to go to Iraq August 24th and that he was arrested last Monday "on North Tioga Street" and "turned over to his unit". AP files a report based on Drumsta's reporting (shorter version here) and WWTI's Newswatch files a report here. Is Learn a war resister?



We don't know. We know he was arrested on the street. We know the police aren't talking (strange since arrest records are supposed to be public but maybe they were phoned by the military -- the same military that maintains/lies that it doesn't track those who check out). We know that all stories mention, in similar words, the same point:



He said a soldier who is absent without leave for more than 30 days can be considered a deserter, which can lead to a court martial to discharge the solder, a nonjudicial discharge process, punishment that allows them to stay in the army or no punishment at all.



That's all that is known now.