Army recruiter lied to me, deserter says

The 20-year-old decided within a month that she’d made a mistake, and went AWOL.

GATEHOUSE NEWS SERVICE

JACKSON TWP., Ohio — The Stark County Jail isn’t where Michelle Harrold thought she would land when she signed up for the U.S. Army.

But that is where the 20-year-old found herself this week after she was arrested at her parents’ home on a warrant for military desertion, a felony.

“I have no idea what’s going on,” Michelle Harrold, who was taken into custody at 9:58 p.m. Feb. 11, said in a call from the jail.

The 2006 Jackson High School graduate went to college for a semester, but she didn’t make the grades. She then went to work in a store at Westfield Belden Village Mall.

There, she met a military recruiter in June. If she committed for three years and 20 weeks, she would earn a $20,000 bonus, get money for college and a generous salary, Michelle Harrold said she was told.

“I wanted to go back to school,” Harrold said. “I didn’t know what for. I was supposed to get a $20,000 bonus. I guess that was kind of what I was thinking about, mostly.”

It didn’t take her long to sign the paperwork to enlist.

“One day, my daughter came to me and told me she signed up for the Army,” her mother, Beverly Harrold said. “I asked her ‘Do you know what you’re doing?’ All she saw was the dollar signs.”

By July, Michelle Harrold realized she had made a mistake.

“There is virtually no way to get out if you find out you don’t want to do it,” Michelle Harrold said. She was deployed to Fort Jackson, S.C., in August.

Upon her arrival at Fort Jackson, Michelle Harrold told superiors she had made a mistake and wanted out.

“I guess I couldn’t handle it,” she said. “It’s not an easy process to go through, missing your family. People are really mean to you in the military. I got beat up twice.”

Douglas Smith, a spokesperson for the Army’s recruiting command at Fort Knox, said if someone truly wants out of his or her commitment, it’s possible before or after leaving for boot camp.

“We’re an all-volunteer force, but we don’t go out of our way to talk about this,” Smith said. “Our expectation is that they’re going to honor their side of the contract, and we’re going to honor ours.

“Going AWOL [absent without official leave] is not the way to handle it. Until the person ships off to basic training, they can ask to be signed off.”

No one listened to her desire to leave the military, Michelle Harrold said.

“Essentially, if they’ve done nothing wrong, our regulations prevent us from saying it was a mistake, see you later,” Fort Jackson Deputy Public Affairs Officer Patrick Jones said. “We’re bound to do counseling. If they’ve done nothing wrong, we cannot separate them.”

Within two months of Michelle Harrold’s arrival at Fort Jackson, she decided to leave the base without permission.

She had never received a uniform. She was never a part of a company. She never took part in boot camp.

Michelle Harrold went AWOL on Sept. 24, two days before she was to meet with a counselor about leaving military life.

“There are official ways to do these things,” Smith said. “Just disappearing from the formation isn’t it.”

She did return to the base within 30 days.

“I went back the first time because my parents had me go back,” she said.

She didn’t stay long. She left again on Oct. 24. That time she didn’t return, and her whereabouts were unknown.

After 30 days AWOL, Michelle Harrold was labeled a deserter, and a warrant was issued for her arrest. She is one of 4,698 enlisted soldiers who left Army service without permission last year. That’s nearly 1 percent of its enlistees.

On Feb. 10, Michelle Harrold returned to her parents’ Jackson Township home. A day later, she was arrested by township police officers.

“We went to the defendant’s home to serve a warrant for desertion,” Maj. Dave Zink said. “We received an anonymous tip. It’s actually like a federal warrant. The military will come in and take custody.”

Michelle Harrold has been in jail since. Her parents planned to buy her a bus ticket to Fort Knox to get her situation straightened out, but they never had a chance.

“I told her, ‘We all back you up,’” Beverly Harrold said. “We wish it hadn’t gotten this far. Since it has, we have to deal with it from this standpoint. ... There is not a whole lot we can do.”

Once in military custody, Michelle Harrold will be sent back to Fort Jackson. From there, she’ll be disciplined.

“It can range anywhere from a counseling of don’t do it again or, depending upon the circumstances, it could go to court martial,” Jones said. “The difference between the left and right parameters is extreme.”

The Harrold family isn’t making any excuses for Michelle Harrold’s actions, but they want other teenagers and parents to learn from what she did.

“First of all, when you ask your child about it, if the first thing that comes out of that child’s mouth is the money, tell them your life is worth more than $12,000 — $1,000 a month,” Beverly Harrold said. “Tell them if they’re truly serious, think about it for six months.”

Smith said joining the military is a decision that should be thought out.

“A person who is considering service needs to think about the totality of what the commitment would mean,” he said. “There are some obvious benefits to the Army — service to country, motivation for the tangible like cash or money for college. But they also need to weigh other aspects.”

In a pilot program in Cleveland, the military is offering a $40,000 signing bonus. The first recruits for the program were sworn in this week.

“There is a better way to make money,” Beverly Harrold said. “They do have good things to offer, but money, that shouldn’t be the main thing.”

If Michelle Harrold had it to do over, she wouldn’t have signed up for the Army.

“I would honestly tell people not to do it,” she said. “Everything is a lie. They will lie to you to have you do whatever.”

Joining the military isn’t an easy decision, Smith said. He noted recruiters should help with the decision, along with friends and family.

“People need to make a well thought-out decision,” he said. “Our recruiters are there to help with the pros and cons.”

And if a change of heart takes place, Jones said the official procedures, such as entry-level separation, can help a person de-enlist.

“Separation is a process,” Jones said. “None are done overnight.”

For Michelle Harrold, the future is a question mark, but she plans to go by the military’s rules to get back home.

“I told her ‘I hope you learn something from this,’” Beverly Harrold said. “I hope she makes it into something positive. If she doesn’t, she’s only going to hurt herself.”