This is a pretty big story up here in the Northeast.
http://www.concordmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070603/REPOSITORY/706030353 A New Hampshire National Guard soldier could face up to five years in prison on desertion charges for leaving Iraq to gain custody of her 7-year-old daughter.
Spc. Lisa Hayes, 32, of Rindge, was serving her second tour in Iraq when she was notified of two violent incidents between her ex-husband and his live-in girlfriend. Hayes's ex-husband had primary guardianship of their daughter, Brystal Knight.
Hayes, a soldier serving with the 3643rd Security Forces, asked for emergency leave in February to attend a court hearing and gain custody of Brystal. But the court proceedings aren't over yet, and Hayes's leave expired in March. Hayes has asked for a hardship discharge from the Guard, saying there is no one else to care for Brystal.
"I can't serve my country at my daughter's expense," she said. "I have to be here. There's no going back."
The National Guard helped Hayes file paperwork for the discharge and offered assistance from the family support program for deployed soldiers, said Lt. Col. Francine Swan, a lawyer with the Guard. Hayes's commander, Capt. Tony Gagnon, extended her leave three times to prevent her from entering AWOL status. He told her in a March 5 correspondence that she needed to better inform her superiors in Iraq about what was going on.
First Sgt. Michael Daigle, a spokesman for the state National Guard, said custody disputes during a deployment are not unusual, and the Guard tries to help whenever possible. He said Hayes has forgone assistance and ignored counsel, leading the Army to take action.
"It's not fair to every other soldier if we give her special treatment," he said. "There are so many soldiers at war that are single parents who came up with a responsible family care plan to take care of their children."
Gagnon informed Hayes on March 25 that she was AWOL. After 30 days, Hayes entered deserter status, a charge punishable by death during wartime, Swan said.
If Hayes turns herself in, which she says she intends to do once she figures out a plan for her daughter, she faces a dishonorable discharge and up to two years in prison, Swan said. If Hayes is arrested before she turns herself in, she could be sentenced to five years in prison.
Deployed in 2004
Hayes, a mother of three and a licensed nursing assistant, joined the National Guard four years ago. She said she wanted to join the Marines after she graduated from Hillsboro-Deering High School but started a family instead.
Hayes has two sons, ages 12 and 10, from a previous relationship. In 2000, she married Tim Knight of Dublin, and the couple had Brystal the following year. In 2002, Hayes and Knight divorced, sharing custody of Brystal, Hayes said.
Hayes said she tried to gain custody of Brystal following her first deployment to Iraq in 2004. She deployed with the 197th Field Artillery Brigade and drove for an escort team, she said. The court proceedings were put off when she volunteered to return to Iraq, and a judge awarded Knight primary custody before her departure, Hayes said.
Parents are required to have a family care plan for their children when they join the Guard, Daigle said. Typically, the plan includes several options for child care in the event of deployment. Hayes had no plan because she didn't have custody of Brystal, said Swan, the Guard lawyer.
In January, Hayes couldn't reach her daughter at her ex-husband's home. She eventually called the Dublin police, and an officer told her he had gone to the residence twice in the previous two months for domestic violence complaints. Hayes said that Knight's mother and his girlfriend, Brenda Brown, were involved in a fight in November. In December, the Dublin police arrested Brown on charges of simple assault, false imprisonment and criminal trespassing, accusing her of assaulting Knight.
According to a police affidavit, Knight said Brown hit him in the head with a phone, knocked him to the ground and duct-taped his wrists together while she slammed his head into the floor. The officer found duct tape debris on the floor and saw cuts and bruises on Knight's face.
'An impermissible risk'
Hayes came home on a two-week leave in January but returned before her attorney could set up an emergency custody hearing. Hayes returned to New Hampshire on emergency leave Feb. 28 and was awarded temporary primary custody of Brystal until a guardian ad litem could investigate the child's home circumstances.
According to a decree issued by Marital Master Pamela Kelly following the hearing, the court decided that Knight's "use and abuse of alcohol" and his volatile relationship with Brown made Brystal's living situation unsuitable.
Kelly said that allowing Brystal to remain in Knight's home "would pose an impermissible risk to the child's welfare," according to the decree.
Hayes had hoped that a family friend in Rindge could care for Brystal temporarily while she figured out another solution. But the friend has had back surgery recently that left him unable to care for a 7-year-old for an extended time. Hayes's deployment is not expected to end until the fall.
Hayes asked Gagnon for an extension of her leave, which he granted. She also asked to be reassigned to duty in New Hampshire so she could take care of her daughter, which was denied.
"If she can't deploy, it's not fair to another soldier," Swan said.
Gagnon told Hayes to return to Iraq while the Guard worked on a hardship discharge. But Hayes said she would have had to leave her daughter in foster care, which she won't do.
"My daughter is not going to be put at stake for me to go back into military control," she said.
Custody arrangements
Hayes's lawyer, Linda Theroux, said it is important that Hayes remain in New Hampshire for the investigation. The guardian ad litem will interview both Knight and Hayes and examine their home settings to determine the best custody arrangements for Brystal. The process can take several months or even years, she said.
"This is the way the court system works in this state," Theroux said. "The wheels turn slowly. We have to go through the process."
Hayes kept in e-mail contact with Gagnon daily and applied for a hardship discharge. But the request was denied because she went into AWOL and deserter status before it was processed, according to a military lawyer representing Hayes.
Hayes believes Gagnon has taken a hard line with her because they have had disputes in the past. Gagnon did not respond to a request for comment, but Swan said Gagnon is following orders.
"I don't think she has any concept that Captain Gagnon does not drive this train," she said. "He does not have the authority to solve her problems."
Two military lawyers have intervened to help Hayes, saying the command is being uncooperative. Hayes has also asked Sens. John Sununu and Judd Gregg to inquire about the issue on her behalf.
Hayes said she has considered turning herself in, but one of her military lawyers advised her to wait it out. She is asking that she be removed from deserter status, but Swan said that won't happen. Since Hayes has been activated for federal duty, it is the Army, not the National Guard, that would detain and try her for the charge. The Guard will help in whatever way it can, Swan said.
"She does have compelling circumstances, but she also deserted from war," Swan said.
Hayes said she isn't trying to get out of the mission in Iraq.
"I am a decorated veteran," she said. "I am by no means trying to get out of a deployment. By no means do I want to be out of the military. I just want to be able to take care of what I need to take care of."
She added, "It's the scariest thing I've ever had to go through. I wish it wouldn't have happened."
