Desertion
![The Defector, by Octav Băncilă, 1906](/Images/godic/202501/27/The_Defector_by_Octav_Băncilă_19063007.jpg")
![Deserteur (Дезертир), by Ilya Repin, 1917](/Images/godic/202501/27/Репин._Дезертир3007.jpg")
![A United States wartime poster deprecating absence](/Images/godic/202501/27/_A_Black_Mark_for_the_Squad._A.W.O.L._-_NARA_-_5127013007.jpg")
![Armenian soldiers in 1919, with deserters as prisoners](/Images/godic/202501/27/Armenian_soldiers_with_deserters_cph.3c323203007.jpg")
In military terminology, desertion is the abandonment of a duty or post without permission (a pass, liberty or leave) and is done with the intention of not returning. In contrast, Unauthorized Absence (UA) or Absence Without Leave (US: AWOL; Commonwealth: AWL) refers to a temporary absence.