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Board backs general discharge for soldier

OVERLAND, Mo. — An Army sergeant who had refused deployment to Iraq said a board recommended he receive a "general discharge under honorable conditions."

Matthis Chiroux, now of Brooklyn, N.Y., but originally from Auburn, Ala., had an administrative hearing Tuesday in suburban St. Louis.

The 25-year-old reservist has been in the military since 2002, but believes the war in Iraq is wrong and that U.S. authority there is illegitimate. He says his lawyer considers the hearing's outcome a victory.

Army Lt. Col. Maria Quon said she couldn't release the board's recommendation due to privacy rules.

However, she said its findings are not the final word. That decision rests with Maj. Gen. Sean Byrne, who oversees the Army's Human Resources Command. She said it could take weeks for that determination.