Hello Krome,
AWOL stands for "Absent Without Leave."
This means that the person did not have permission to leave his place of duty.
One can only be away from their place of duty (meaning their duty station, base, ship, post, etc.) with PERMISSION.
If a person is being transferred from one base to another he/she will have printed copies of military movement orders authorizing him/her to leave that base and to report to another base for duty. Travel time will be figured in and if the person doesn't show up on the day he/she is supposed to report than he/she is declared AWOL on the records.
A person in the American military is authorized to have 30 days leave each year away from his duty (by law). This person then, puts in a request for leave and if approved by his/her commander then the person is excused from duty for the period of the authorized leave. Sometimes a person takes 30 days leave before reporting to a new base/unit so he/she can visit family. Sometimes a person takes leave for a week or two to take a vacation away from work. But, it is all approved. If a person doesn't come back from leave he/she is listed as AWOL.
Sometimes a person gets a "3-day pass" (72 hours of excused from duty. If the person doesn't return from the pass, he/she is AWOL.
If a person is distressed and is thinking about going AWOL he/she should not do it. They will be punished, fined, reduced in rank/grade and maybe placed into a detention facility for up to 30 days. AWOL is not worth it to ruin a military record.
A person should always talk over his/her problems with his/her supervisor, First Sergeant, and/or Commander. Most problems can be corrected if the people in charge "know about it."
In my 11 years as an Air Force First Sergeant I never had any person in my unit go AWOL from the Squadron.
Good luck writing your story.
Larry Smith
SMSgt, USAF (Ret.)
First Sergeant