Fri, Nov 21, 2008

Tucson Region

AWOL soldier to leave 'tent city,' return to fort

Staff and wire reports
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 09.29.2007
PHOENIX — The Pentagon has ordered an Army soldier temporarily housed in Maricopa County's "tent city" jail for being absent without leave returned to military custody, Sheriff Joe Arpaio said Friday.
"I think they want to review the program," Arpaio said.
"The unit felt that he had sufficient deterrent and that he had rehabilitated," Fort Huachuca spokesman Maj. Matt Garner said in Sierra Vista.
Pvt. Lance Thompson was convicted on Sept. 11 of being absent without leave for five months, post officials have said.
Thompson, 18, was sentenced to 25 days' confinement after leaving training camp in Sierra Vista in March. He later turned himself in at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas.
Garner said the soldier was to be back at the fort by Friday evening "where he will remain for five days' restriction, and the unit will determine whether he is worthy of staying in the unit."
Thompson is a member of the 305th Military Intelligence Battalion.
Earlier this week, Arpaio announced that he had agreed to take prisoners serving sentences for being AWOL at the jail, which houses prisoners in old Army tents.