...the number of deserters had tripled between 1995 and 2001. The economic boom of the late 1990s, plus the usual array of family, legal and financial problems, had caused more troops to try and get out of their enlistment contract by deserting. The number of deserters has increased to nearly 6,000 since September 11, 2001, about one percent of all army troops on active duty. About 5,500 troops have deserted since 911, out of about a million troops who have been on active duty in that period. Rehabilitation has worked in some cases, but basically, the army has to come to grips with the fact that, even with an army of volunteers, there will always be troops who change their mind. Desertion is an old problem in the military, in peacetime as well as when there’s a war going on. The current desertion rate is, historically, very low (less than one percent). The prospect of going to Iraq, and wanting to avoid combat, has accounted for some of the current desertions. But not many. The big increase in desertions came before September 11, 2001. Since then, there have been far more people joining the military in order to get into combat, than those running away to avoid it
