It is not necessary that the person be absent entirely from military jurisdiction and control. The first part of this articlerelating to the appointed place of dutyapplies whether the place is appointed as a rendezvous for several or for one only. The actual knowledge is the offenses of failure to go to and going from appointed place of duty require proof that the accused actually knew of the appointed time and place of duty. The offense of absence from unit, organization, or place of duty with intent to avoid maneuvers or field exercises requires proof that the accused actually knew that the absence would occur during a part of a period of maneuvers or field exercises. Actual knowledge may be proved by circumstantial evidence. The military makes examples of people like that to encourage everyone else to attend wars and other things most folks would prefer to avoid. So to answer your question yes, the military is much more than a job. Things that would lead a civilian employer to simply fire an employee can lead to criminal punishment in the military. Every morning we are required to go to PT formation and that is my appointed place of duty for the morning if I am not there then I will be wrote up and if I did it a second time doesn't have to be because of a missing a formation I would get a counseling on paper, and after a third time I would probably get recommended for an Article 15. It is