Information: - for other men named William Alexander , see William Alexander ( disambiguation ) William Alexander ( 18 September 1880 -- 18 October 1917 ) was a Canadian soldier who served with the 10th Battalion , CEF in France during the First World War . His execution by firing squad following a charge of desertion sparked controversy in Canada . He was one of 25 Canadian soldiers executed during the course of the Great War . The case of Sergeant Alexander is studied in detail in the book Gallant Canadians : The Story of the 10th Battalion , CEF 1914 - 1919 by Daniel G. Dancocks . - The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is a branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's seven uniformed services. The Coast Guard is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the U.S. military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission (with jurisdiction in both domestic and international waters) and a federal regulatory agency mission as part of its mission set. It operates under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security during peacetime, and can be transferred to the U.S. Department of the Navy by the U.S. President at any time, or by the U.S. Congress during times of war. This has happened twice, in 1917, during World War I, and in 1941, during World War II. - The United States Army (USA) is the largest branch of the United States Armed Forces and performs land-based military operations. It is one of the seven uniformed services of the United States and is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution, Article 2, Section 2, Clause 1 and United States Code, Title 10, Subtitle B, Chapter 301, Section 3001. As the largest and senior branch of the U.S. military, the modern U.S. Army has its roots in the Continental Army, which was formed (14 June 1775) to fight the American Revolutionary War (17751783)before the U.S. was established as a country. After the Revolutionary War, the Congress of the Confederation created the United States Army on 3 June 1784, to replace the disbanded Continental Army. The United States Army considers itself descended from the Continental Army, and dates its institutional inception from the origin of that armed force in 1775. - 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. Desertion versus Absence Without Leave. In the United States Army, British Armed Forces, Australian Defence Force, New Zealand Defence Force, and Canadian Armed Forces, military personnel will become "AWOL" (U.S. and Canada: Absence Without Leave) or "AWL" (UK and Australia: Absent Without Leave) if absent from their post without a valid pass, liberty or leave. The United States Marine Corps, United States Navy, and United States Coast Guard generally refer to this as "Unauthorized Absence" or "UA.' Personnel are dropped from their unit rolls after thirty days and then listed as "deserters"; however, as a matter of U.S. military law, desertion is not measured by time away from the unit, but rather: Given the paragraphs above, decide what entity has the relation 'conflict' with 'world war i'.
william alexander