SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA AND THE PERSIAN GULF CRISIS : Marine May Face Dismissal After Abandoning His Unit

In a move his lawyer described as “a decision of conscience,” a U.S. Marine Corps officer from Camp Pendleton abandoned his assault helicopter squadron in Hawaii just before it was to leave for the Middle East and now faces military dismissal and imprisonment.

Lt. Tony Moradian, 26, of Los Angeles, is the highest-ranking person known to have abandoned his unit since Operation Desert Shield began, Pentagon officials said.

Charged formally this week by the military, he faces court-martial and imprisonment for leaving his chopper squadron Dec. 9, the day before the ship that transported it sailed for the Philippines en route to the Middle East. He took a commercial plane back to Southern California, was reunited with his wife and returned to the base at Camp Pendleton, authorities said.

On Tuesday, as the military pressed ahead with Moradian’s prosecution, defense counsel Capt. David Ingold would say only: “The decision had to do with his upbringing.”

“He’s not a conscientious objector,” Ingold said. “ . . . He’s got no qualms about what the Marine Corps is doing (in the Persian Gulf), or why they’re doing it. He would like to stay in the Marine Corps. . . . This is just a unique situation.”

Moradian is charged with being absent from his unit--Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 169--and missing its deployment, charges more serious than merely being absent without leave. If convicted, he could be sent to prison for two years or dismissed from the military without further punishment.

But the decision to place the prosecution in the hands of Maj. C.M. Baldwin, head of the legal service offices at Camp Pendleton, may indicate the severity with which the case is viewed by the military.

“When you’re talking about an officer, the assumption is it’s more serious,” Ingold said. “I assume he’s headed to” a general court-martial, the toughest form of prosecution in the military.

Baldwin said: “We don’t have all the facts as to why Lt. Moradian was not with his unit. But I don’t need a reason--we have enough now to proceed with this case.”

Before Dec. 9, Moradian apparently had no blemishes on his military record, officials said. He attended college on an ROTC scholarship and performed well in flight school, earning a spot in the pilot’s seat of the Huey Cobra, Baldwin said.

Moradian has been assigned to an administrative post at Camp Pendleton but his movements have not been restricted.