Fort Carson female deserter sentenced to 10 months

Fort Carson female deserter sentenced to 10 months
April 29, 2013
ERIN PRATER
THE GAZETTE

The first female soldier to flee to Canada to avoid the Iraq War was sentenced by a military judge Monday to 10 months confinement and a bad conduct discharge.

Pfc. Kimberly Rivera, with the Fort Carson’s 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, pleaded guilty to two counts of desertion at the Monday court-martial.

Rivera, who served as a front gate guard at Forward Operating Base Loyalty in Baghdad during a 2006-2007 tour, was granted leave in January 2007 but failed to return to duty.

When asked by judge Col. Timothy Grammel how long she remained absent, Rivera replied, “As long as I possibly could, sir. ... I intended to quit my job permanently.”

Rivera, 30, also said the military “doesn’t reflect who I want to be anymore.”

During a sentencing hearing, government lawyers argued that Rivera, who was granted leave shortly into her tour to work out marital issues, failed to return because her husband threatened to leave her and take their children.
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