Hunt on for AWOL Afghan Soldiers in US Federal officials are searching for 17 Afghan soldiers who have gone AWOL from the Defense Language Institute at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas.
Gary Emery, a spokesman for the 37th Training Wing at Lackland, said the men disappeared over the course of 18 months. The Afghan soldiers included officers and enlisted men who were learning English before going on to further training, including flight training.
The 17 are now all identified on a bulletin released by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service in Dallas, which also includes a black and white photo of each. The "BOLO," or "Be on the Lookout," bulletin states all the men were issued DoD Common Access Cards "and could attempt to enter [Defense Department] installations."
The story was first reported by The San Antonio Express News on June 17.
According to Emery, the soldiers' access cards would have been disabled as soon as the men were reported missing. The cards are revoked along with their visas, invitational travel orders, any DoD cards and badges, any airline tickets bought for them, and drivers licenses.
"When a DLI student goes missing we report it to the Department of Homeland Security, to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, as well as to their sponsoring service branch," Emery said. Foreign soldiers at DLI may be sponsored by the Army, Navy, Marine Corps or Air Force, he said.
Emery said at this point DHS is the federal agency with primary responsibility for finding the 17, the last of whom went AWOL in January.
DHS had not returned Military.com's call or email for comment by posting time.
Emery said it is rare for DLI students to go AWOL but it happens. An Iraqi soldier disappeared in 2009 but turned up in Houston where he asked for asylum rather than return to Iraq. A soldier from Djibouti also went missing in 2009. This year one soldier each from Tunisia and Guinea Bissau have gone AWOL.
According to Emory, the DLI at Lackland had 228 Afghan soldiers in training in 2009. In all, 3,400 foreign troops were in training at the school last year, he said.
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