You know, I’m not going to pretend I know a lot about the military – despite being associated with it through my husband for more than 10 years, but I do know enough to know that being charged with AWOL can be a result of something as simple as sleeping in and not showing up for work on time.

To read the latest headling in the edmontonsun.com – Canada – AWOL Canucks have doubled you’d think that we have a large number of Candian troops permanently deserting the military or taking off to avoid duties. Despite what some people might believe, it’s not that difficult to leave the military should you decide that it’s not a career option you want to pursue. It’s also not that difficult to “dag red” and become ineligable for deployment overseas. Granted, it’ll have massive ramifications on your career, but if you’re not interested in staying with the Canadian Forces, then that won’t be an issue for you.

I’d be really interested in reviewing the AWOL numbers and the reasons for their charges. I wonder just how many of the “sharp rise in charges” are a direct result of things like sleeping in, being late for work, leaving work early… all things that could result in AWOL charges should they be pursued. Despite the article’s attempt to make it seem as if AWOL is the same a Desertion, they are in fact massively different charges.

Granted, anyone doing a few minutes of research before publishing a story such as this might have been able to figure that out on their own. I’m becoming more disillusioned at the state of our media reporting of late. To bring Anthony Boneca’s name into the article in the end is not only in bad taste but also blatently misleading. The comments referred to were received second hand and never came from Boneca directly as is implied by the article. While the comments are a quote from representative of the Polaris Institute (Steve Staples) this would have been a great time for the editor or writer to include a short disclaimer outlining the fact that Mr. Staples comments had been directly disputed by the members of the Boneca family. Instead, they chose to leave the impression that his statements were without reproach.

Then again, I should know better than to expect fair and balanced reporting.  Sensationalism sells far more newspapers.

Technorati Tags: military, awol, media reporting, polaris institute