Absence without proper authority from the properly appointed place of duty, or from unit, organization, or other place of duty at which one is required to be at the time prescribed
(Askeri) Absent Without Leave / Absent Without Official Leave. "The military police were searching the area for the soldier who had gone AWOL."
If you say that someone has gone AWOL, you mean that they have disappeared without telling anyone where they were going. absent without leave absent from somewhere without permission, especially from the army
AWOL is an abbreviation for `absent without leave'. If someone in the Armed Forces goes AWOL, they leave their post without the permission of a superior officer