A U.S. soldier who is absent without leave is seeking refugee status in Canada as a conscientious objector.

Jeremy Hinzman, who faces prosecution in the U.S., left the 82nd Airborne Division in North Carolina last month and fled to Toronto with his wife and baby.

Hinzman told the Fayetteville Observer in a phone interview that he had "a romantic vision" of the army when he joined three years ago.

He said the structure of army life, complete with subsidized housing, groceries and money for education, appealed to him.

But at the start of basic training, he became disillusioned and horrified by chanting about killing during marches, shooting at targets without faces and the dehumanization of the enemy.

Hinzman applied as a conscientious objector, saying he wanted to fulfil his service obligation but not fight in combat.

His application was rejected while he was in Afghanistan.

Hinzman said he and his wife decided to flee to Toronto before he could be shipped off to Iraq.

Canada's Immigration and Refugee Board said none of the 268 American applicants for refugee status last year were accepted.

Sgt. Pam Smith, a spokesperson for the 82nd Airborne based at Fort Bragg, N.C., said Hinzman could be arrested in the U.S., and would be put on a national database.

But she said the army won't search him out.

"We don't have time to go and track down people who go [absent without leave]," she said. "We're fighting a war."