# What is the difference between AWOL and desertion in the US Army?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-difference-between-awol-and-desertion-in-the-us-army/690295>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [June 7, 2014, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-difference-between-awol-and-desertion-in-the-us-army/690295 "2014-06-07T22:16:07Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\
**Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-difference-between-awol-and-desertion-in-the-us-army/690295/21 "2014-06-09T05:15:00Z")

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> [@Leo\_Bloom](#):
>
> I assumed when you fuck up it’s always a court-martial, and in the Navy it would be in the brig you go until then. (Come to think of it, I have no idea where the word “brig” comes from.)

It’s from “brigantine”, a kind of two-masted vessel. Originally the abbreviate referred to the vessel, but from about 1850 it came to refer also to a naval prison, and later to a military prison. A brigantine was a fairly small vessel, and - wild guess - possibly the prison was called a “brig” because of the confined space it offered.

In due course “brig” stopped being applied to the vessel, and came to refer exclusively to the prison.

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**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\
**Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-difference-between-awol-and-desertion-in-the-us-army/690295/22 "2014-06-09T11:28:20Z")

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No info, just anecdote. The only WWII story my father would ever tell me (he drove a tank into battles) was about the time he learned that his brother was in the same area and the two of them snuck out to meet and have a drink. AWOL, and not caught.

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**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\
**Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-difference-between-awol-and-desertion-in-the-us-army/690295/23 "2014-06-09T13:01:10Z")

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Thanks to all.

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**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\
**Post date:** [October 30, 2018, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-difference-between-awol-and-desertion-in-the-us-army/690295/24 "2018-10-30T22:39:02Z")

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Bump by OP…update on the whole shebang

**[Taliban: 5 freed from US military prison now in Qatar office](https://www.apnews.com/fe8ff74c31d645d68c1f67de65613760)**

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