Maryland soldier will likely be fired after alleged desertion

The Army will likely fire a Westminster soldier accused of desertion, even though his family claims he did everything he could to get back to his unit after coming home on emergency leave to care for his sick wife and newborn daughter.

Pfc. Christopher Pfeiffer, 20, has been in limbo in Bagram, Afghanistan, for 2 1/2 weeks, not allowed to return to his unit and not officially charged with a crime or punished nonjudicially.

Earlier this week, Pfeiffer was advised he would face an "involuntary separation," said Neal Puckett, a military criminal defense lawyer who advised Pfeiffer over the phone Wednesday evening. The separation would be characterized as general -- not an honorable discharge, but also not the dishonorable discharge his relatives feared he would face.

Puckett said that much like a civilian being fired, Pfeiffer could do little to appeal the decision. He could petition for his discharge to be characterized as honorable, he could petition for a review of his records in an effort to receive back pay, or he could accept the separation and try to re-enlist in the Army with another unit if he still wants to serve. He and his wife allege they have been underpaid or not paid at all for months.

Theresa Mwimbwa, Pfeiffer's mother-in-law, said the family is upset because they say he did nothing wrong and shouldn't be discharged from the Army at all. Mwimbwa is working with staffers for Rep. Roscoe Bartlett, a Republican who represents Western Maryland, to reject the punishment and get Pfeiffer a hearing on American soil.

Authorized leave gone awry

Pfeiffer came home May 17 on an authorized midtour leave to coincide with the birth of his first child. But his wife, 18-year-old Alexandria, was having severe health problems. Pfeiffer was granted 37 days of emergency leave to take care of his wife, who was sent to the emergency room multiple times and was not well enough to care for her baby alone.

Toward the end of the emergency leave, Pfeiffer felt he still needed to be home longer to take care of his family. E-mail records show he tried to get in touch with several superiors in his chain of command to request extra leave. He also tried to schedule his flight back to Afghanistan when it appeared he would not be granted additional leave.

At the same time, Pfeiffer appealed to Bartlett's office to help get a compassionate reassignment to allow him to temporarily work at a local Army post and care for his family, then return to his unit when Alexandria was well enough.

None of the requests went through, and at the end of his leave in July Pfeiffer was still in Maryland and unable to return to his unit.

Fort Detrick officials granted Pfeiffer a compassionate attachment for a few weeks in August, giving his family access to financial help, counseling and other resources, said Chuck Gordon, public affairs specialist for the Army garrison at Fort Detrick.

When Pfeiffer's request for a compassionate reassignment was denied, Fort Detrick's ranking enlisted soldier, Command Sgt. Maj. James Shaheen, helped send Pfeiffer to Atlanta, where he would be processed and sent to Kuwait to rejoin his unit in Afghanistan.

Pfeiffer arrived in Kuwait on Sept. 14 and waited at the airport until Nov. 3. Mwimbwa said that he tried daily to get on a flight to rejoin his unit but that someone kept scratching his name off the passenger list.

On Nov. 3, a noncommissioned officer in Pfeiffer's chain of command found Pfeiffer and brought him to the military police. He was escorted to Bagram, where he's been waiting since.

Pfeiffer's wife and mother-in-law say he was denied food for some of the time he's been held in Bagram and that he's been mistreated.

Three soldiers in Pfeiffer's unit declined requests for interviews.

The aftermath

The Army confirmed last week that Bartlett brought Pfeiffer's case to the attention of the secretary of the Army's office, but an Army spokesman Friday was not sure of the status of the investigation.

Since Bartlett lobbied Army Secretary John McHugh to look into Pfeiffer's complaints, Alexandria and 5-month-old Claudia were put back on the Army insurance plan. They were removed a few months ago when Pfeiffer was classified a deserter. Alexandria said she has not been able to buy prescriptions or get her baby vaccinated because they had no medical coverage.

Alexandria and Mwimbwa both said Pfeiffer wanted to be able to return to serving the Army after the investigation, which looks unlikely now. But Puckett said Pfeiffer sounded well when he called Wednesday night.

"He sounded fine. He sounded calm and mentally healthy," Puckett said.

It is unclear when the Army will take action. Puckett said Pfeiffer told him he'd be escorted back to American soil when another soldier came home on a scheduled leave. Puckett added that the time it takes to process the paperwork for an involuntary separation varies from a day to several weeks.

Communication breakdown?

Several officials said they think a series of miscommunications led to Pfeiffer's situation.

Puckett said he thinks part of the problem was Pfeiffer going to Fort Detrick, which is far removed from his chain of command and wouldn't be able to communicate effectively with Pfeiffer's unit, stationed out of Fort Richardson, Alaska.

But Gordon said "if anything (Fort Detrick) may have facilitated communications" and that he is "not sure (Pfeiffer) would have access to the same pipelines of communication he had at Fort Detrick" if he were on his own trying to reach his officers in Afghanistan.

Copyright 2009 The Frederick News-Post. All rights reserved.