AWOL soldier is sentenced to 30 days

A soldier who refused to return to Iraq after saying she had been sexually harassed was sentenced to 30 days of confinement Wednesday after pleading guilty to missing movement and being absent without leave, the Army said.

Suzanne Swift, 22, of Eugene, Ore., was also demoted from specialist to private, but she can remain in the Army and could eventually earn an honorable discharge under the terms of the plea deal.

Swift served in Iraq from February 2004 to February 2005. Her unit was sent back to Iraq in January 2006, but she refused to go and stayed away for about five months. Swift said that her supervisor in Iraq coerced her into a sexual relationship, and that other colleagues had harassed or abused her.

The Army substantiated her allegations against one soldier at Fort Lewis. That soldier later left the Army after a reprimand from his battalion commander and reassignment to another unit.

Swift was arrested in June. Her plea, which came during a summary court-martial, helped her avoid a federal conviction. She will be reassigned to a new unit when she completes her sentence.