Army Sgt. Christopher M. Vassey, 38, was returned to the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Liberty, N.C., after surrendering to federal agents on Dec. 3, 2024, at the border with Canada. The sergeant fled the United States 16 years ago. (Corey Dickstein/Stars and Stripes)
An Army sergeant who fled the United States for Canada 16 years ago turned himself in to authorities at the U.S.-Canada border in Buffalo, N.Y., last week to face military desertion charges, according to U.S. military and Customs and Border Protection officials.
Sgt. Christopher M. Vassey, 38, was returned to the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Liberty, N.C., after surrendering to federal agents on Dec. 3, according to Lt. Col. Cesar Santiago, a spokesman for the division. Vassey had walked into the United States at the Port of Buffalo’s Rainbow Bridge border crossing and told CBP officials that he was “turning himself in” for military desertion, according to federal authorities.
Vassey’s identification was verified by officials and found he had an active warrant from the Army for desertion, CBP said. The officers alerted Fort Liberty officials, and they turned him over to the Army last week.
Vassey was an infantryman who enlisted in April 2006, Santiago said. He declined further comment on Vassey or the desertion case “as this matter is subject to ongoing legal proceedings.”
Desertion charges carry several potential maximum penalties under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, the set of laws that govern the U.S. military. In peacetime, desertion carries a maximum penalty of a dishonorable discharge and up to five years confinement. If charged with wartime desertion, a service member could face life imprisonment or the death penalty. The Pentagon has not charged any troops with wartime desertion since World War II.
It was not clear Monday whether Vassey had an attorney.
Vassey fled the United States for Canada in August 2008 in the months after returning to Fort Liberty — then named Fort Bragg — from a more than yearlong deployment to Afghanistan, according to 2011 Canadian federal court documents. He had become disillusioned with the U.S. military’s efforts there and in Iraq and immediately applied for refugee protection.
Vassey was denied refugee status in Canada at least twice, according to court documents.
Vassey had participated in the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps during high school and then enlisted in the New Jersey Army National Guard in 2003, according to the Canadian courts. After his Guard stint, he joined the active-duty Army and was assigned to the 82nd Airborne and deployed to Afghanistan.
Despite his concerns about the war efforts, Vassey reenlisted during the deployment and was promoted to sergeant, according to the documents.
