MANCHESTER, N.H. -- A New Hampshire woman likely will be discharged from the National Guard for allegedly deserting amid a child-custody dispute.
Specialist Lisa Hayes surrendered to Army authorities this week to face charges she refused to return to her unit in Iraq while her custody case wound its way through the court system.
She was confined at Fort Dix in New Jersey and could be transferred to Fort Knox in Kentucky for final settlement of her case.
Military justice experts told The Boston Globe Wednesday that Hayes, 32, likely will not be given any time in the guardhouse for her transgression; however, they also noted such cases are turning up more frequently as the war uproots more citizen soldiers from their children and their ex-spouses.
Hayes told the Globe she did not consider herself to be a deserter. She was in the middle of her second tour in Iraq when she was given an emergency leave in February after her ex-husband was involved in a domestic violence incident.
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