I wonder if this is one of 'our' guys?
Soldier who went AWOL surrenders
By CHRIS VAUGHN
STAR-TELEGRAM STAFF WRITER
Jacob Hounshell called Thursday afternoon on a cellphone, the sound of the road in the background.
"I'm heading down to Fort Hood," he said.
Nine months after going absent without leave following a yearlong deployment to Iraq, Hounshell, a private first class, was returning to his unit in the 1st Cavalry Division.
His mother, Bobbie, dropped him off at the gate Thursday evening, and military police officers picked him up and took him to his command, said division spokesman Lt. Col. Scott Bleichwehl.
"It's time to go before I get arrested with a warrant," Hounshell said in the phone conversation to the Star-Telegram. "It's better to turn myself in and get it over with."
Hounshell, 20, had been living and working in Brownwood since May when he went on leave and never returned.
In a profile last June in the Star-Telegram, Hounshell said he was suicidal, having anxiety attacks and nightmares, and exploding in rage at the slightest provocation because of what he experienced on the combat deployment in Iraq.
He served with a scout unit in Baghdad, honorably and with commendations, according to his records and a fellow soldier quoted in the story.
Hounshell went AWOL, he said, because he believed that his unit's leaders were indifferent to his adjustment problems. Bleichwehl said then that Hounshell's leaders were doing everything they could to get him help before he went AWOL.
Hounshell said Thursday that he learned that a federal warrant was about to be issued, prompting him to return to Fort Hood. He said he has been doing much better with his problems in recent months, but he still hopes to be discharged from the Army.
"It was definitely the right thing to do," Bleichwehl said of Hounshell's return to the installation. "He had to have this resolved."
Somewhat bizarrely, Hounshell was working for a manufacturing plant in Brownwood that makes uniforms for the Army.
Hounshell reported to his command at 4th Battalion, 9th Cavalry and was assigned a noncommissioned officer to help him with his needs, Bleichwehl said. He will live in the barracks, Bleichwehl said.
He will have the opportunity next week to seek mental health counseling and to ask for a lawyer if he wishes, Bleichwehl said.
"What happens next is not known," he said. "The commander has different options," including administrative punishment, criminal charges and discharge from the service.
Soldier who went AWOL surrenders
By CHRIS VAUGHN
STAR-TELEGRAM STAFF WRITER
Jacob Hounshell called Thursday afternoon on a cellphone, the sound of the road in the background.
"I'm heading down to Fort Hood," he said.
Nine months after going absent without leave following a yearlong deployment to Iraq, Hounshell, a private first class, was returning to his unit in the 1st Cavalry Division.
His mother, Bobbie, dropped him off at the gate Thursday evening, and military police officers picked him up and took him to his command, said division spokesman Lt. Col. Scott Bleichwehl.
"It's time to go before I get arrested with a warrant," Hounshell said in the phone conversation to the Star-Telegram. "It's better to turn myself in and get it over with."
Hounshell, 20, had been living and working in Brownwood since May when he went on leave and never returned.
In a profile last June in the Star-Telegram, Hounshell said he was suicidal, having anxiety attacks and nightmares, and exploding in rage at the slightest provocation because of what he experienced on the combat deployment in Iraq.
He served with a scout unit in Baghdad, honorably and with commendations, according to his records and a fellow soldier quoted in the story.
Hounshell went AWOL, he said, because he believed that his unit's leaders were indifferent to his adjustment problems. Bleichwehl said then that Hounshell's leaders were doing everything they could to get him help before he went AWOL.
Hounshell said Thursday that he learned that a federal warrant was about to be issued, prompting him to return to Fort Hood. He said he has been doing much better with his problems in recent months, but he still hopes to be discharged from the Army.
"It was definitely the right thing to do," Bleichwehl said of Hounshell's return to the installation. "He had to have this resolved."
Somewhat bizarrely, Hounshell was working for a manufacturing plant in Brownwood that makes uniforms for the Army.
Hounshell reported to his command at 4th Battalion, 9th Cavalry and was assigned a noncommissioned officer to help him with his needs, Bleichwehl said. He will live in the barracks, Bleichwehl said.
He will have the opportunity next week to seek mental health counseling and to ask for a lawyer if he wishes, Bleichwehl said.
"What happens next is not known," he said. "The commander has different options," including administrative punishment, criminal charges and discharge from the service.