The first female soldier to flee the U.S. military for Canada to avoid the Iraq war is to be court-martialed Monday.
The Colorado Springs Gazette reports that Kimberly Rivera was charged with desertion and faces up to five years in prison and a dishonorable discharge if convicted.
Rivera was assigned to Fort Carson’s 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team in Colorado and served in Iraq in 2006. She says she became disillusioned with the mission.
While on a two-week leave in the U.S. in 2007, she crossed the Canadian border after she was ordered to serve another tour in Iraq. Rivera applied for permanent residency, but Canadian immigration officials ordered the mother of four to leave the country or face deportation.
She was arrested last year at the U.S. border.
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