Robert Weiss
U.S. Army - 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment
Private First Class (E-3)
Conscientious Objector
Age: 20
MOS: 19D - Cavalry Scout
Served: July 2005 - May 2008
Iraq Deployment: Aug 2007 - Dec 2007

Robert's CO claim: PDF
Letter to Judge Colonel Masters: PDF

*Robert was released from prison Sunday, November 9*

MANNHEIM, Germany – Conscientious objector Robert Weiss was released Sunday from the U.S. Military Detention Facility Europe in Mannheim, Germany.

Weiss was released roughly one month early due to good behavior and was transported directly to the Frankfurt Airport.

“Everything is exciting to me right now,” said Weiss while waiting for his flight. “I could be sitting in a traffic jam and I’d be thinking, ‘This is awesome, we’re not moving!’

“Somebody could swerve into my lane and cut me off, and it would be incredible,” he said, before immediately adding, “I am aware this euphoria will probably only last a week or so.”

Full of patriotism but lacking in prospects, Weiss joined the Army as a 17-year-old in high school. The abstract motions of killing in basic training did little to disturb him, but when an acquaintance was stabbed in the heart at a party and died on the way to the hospital, he was forced to confront what death actually met head on.

Seeking answers, he returned to a Bible he abandoned soon after joining the Army. Combined with an improbable discovery of Mennonite Theologian John Howard Yoder’s The Politics of Jesus – among other works – Weiss found he simply could not reconcile Jesus’ teachings with the military’s.

As his C.O. application meandered up his chain of command, Weiss was deployed to Iraq and idled the dusty hours away on noncombatant radio observation duty, one 24-hour shift at a time. The application process had long exceeded the maximum 90 days it should last, so he did not request leave, trusting instead he would be discharged at any moment.

“Finally, the day came for me to turn in my weapon and go home on leave,” he said. “About 20 minutes before I left Camp Prosperity, my First Sergeant approached me and gave me the paperwork for my [denied] application.”

He flew to the U.S. on vacation, but as his leave expired and his Dec. 22, 2007, return flight to Iraq drew near, his C.O. beliefs compelled him to miss the flight and avoid the combat patrol duties he would be assigned upon landing. He ultimately turned himself in at Fort Knox the following February and was transported back to his unit in Germany.

Weiss was sentenced to seven months confinement during a court-martial May 13, 2008, at Rose Barracks in Vilseck, Germany. The sentence also included a Bad Conduct Discharge, reduction to the lowest enlisted rank, and forfeiture of $898 per month for seven months.

An Honorable Discharge is required to receive GI Bill college tuition assistance, meaning the desertion conviction – a felony – disqualifies Weiss from receiving military financial aid. He nevertheless hopes to pursue a college education, preferably at one of the Mennonite institutions spread across the United States.

The Military Counseling Network is a project of the German Mennonite Peace Committee and is supported by Mennonite Central Committee and Mennonite Mission Network. MCN assists roughly 100 American military service members a year seek discharges and solutions in situations including conscientious objection, proper medical or psychological evaluations, family hardships, and discrimination.

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From left: MCN counselors Daniel Hershberger and Tim Huber, Robert Weiss, and former MCN counselor Michael Sharp.

Press Release from 13 May 2008:
Conscientious objector Robert Weiss sentenced to seven months in U.S. military prison

VILSECK, Germany - U.S. Army conscientious objector Robert Weiss was sentenced to seven months confinement during a court martial Tuesday at Rose Barracks in Vilseck, Germany.

Weiss pled guilty to charges of desertion and missing movement, which reduced the court martial's proceedings mostly to the sentencing phase.

In early December of 2007, Weiss learned his application to be classified a conscientious objector and receive an honorable discharge was denied. Weiss was assigned non-combatant duties while deployed to Forward Operating Base Prosperity in Iraq at the time, and learned of the development immediately before travelling to the United States on leave.

As his leave expired and his Dec. 22, 2007, return flight to Iraq drew near, his C.O. beliefs compelled him to miss the flight and avoid the combat patrol duties he would be assigned upon landing. He eventually turned himself in to military authorities Feb. 11, 2008, in Fort Knox, Kentucky.

"I had no intention of boarding the flight, your honor," he said to judge Peter Masters. "… I believe they would have transitioned me to a Stryker [combat vehicle] driver position."

The charges of desertion and missing movement can carry a maximum punishment of death by firing squad or seven years in prison, however defense lawyers for Weiss were able to secure a special court martial rather than a general court martial. A special court martial can issue a maximum punishment of 12 months in prison and a Bad Conduct Discharge, whereas a general court martial has a much higher punishment ceiling, and the possibility of a more serious Dishonorable Discharge. Both convictions are felonies.

Defense lawyers for Weiss orchestrated a pre-trial agreement with prosecutors that included guilty pleas, no out-of-country witnesses, and no jury, relying instead solely on a judge.

Though this agreement carried a prison sentence of eight months, Judge Masters issued a seven-month sentence, to be served at the U.S. Military Detention Facility Europe at Coleman Barracks in Mannheim, Germany. The sentence also included a Bad Conduct Discharge, reduction to the lowest enlisted rank, and forfeiture of $898 per month for seven months.

With good behavior, Weiss' lawyers estimate he will be released after six months.

In his closing remarks during the sentencing portion of the trial, civilian defense lawyer David Court presented an overview of what the U.S. Military Code of Justice seeks to accomplish through criminal punishment. Court concluded most aspects - like rehabilitation and protecting society - simply did not apply to someone guilty of essentially refusing to commit an act of violence against other human beings.

"The only tenant that is relevant is to maintain Good Order and Discipline," he said. "Those three letters [G.O.D.] that's where Robert J. Weiss sees his command. He believes the requirements of his spirituality overcome that of a soldier.

"… He will believe he is being punished because he broke the Army's rules, but not because he broke higher laws," Court said.

Though shackled as he left the building, Weiss managed to rotate a wrist, flashing one last peace sign before boarding a van for Mannheim. He had only two words to say.

"God bless."

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