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FAYETTEVILLE — A former soldier with Fort Bragg ties was charged Monday with trying to join a terrorist organization.

Craig Benedict Baxam, 24, of Laurel, Md., is accused of attempting to provide material support to al Shabaab, an al-Qaida-linked group based in Somalia.

Baxam, who served in the Army between 2007 and 2011, was arrested in Kenya on Dec. 23 and charged Friday upon his return to the United States.

He faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison followed by three years of supervised release if convicted.

"The complaint alleges that Craig Baxam intended to travel to Somalia and join the terrorist organization al Shabaab," said Maryland U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein in a release. "Mr. Baxam was caught in Kenya before he reached Somalia, and there is no allegation that anyone assisted him."

According to the criminal complaint, Baxam received cryptology -- the study of codes -- and intelligence training in the Army before being assigned to Fort Bragg's 18th Airborne Corps.

A month after coming to Fort Bragg, he was deployed to Baghdad, Iraq, for a year, according to court documents.

Baxam later served with the 2nd Infantry Division in South Korea for nearly a year before separating from the Army.

An FBI affidavit attached to the complaint alleges Baxam secretly converted to Islam days before leaving the military.

Before traveling to Africa, Baxam cashed out his retirement savings and destroyed his personal computer, according to the complaint.

He told authorities he found music and pictures in America disrespectful and was "looking for dying with a gun in my hand."

Baxam tried to travel to Somalia after flying to Kenya and taking a series of buses and taxis in an attempt to reach the Somali border.

But Kenyan police stopped a bus in which Baxam was traveling near Mombasa, Kenya, and arrested him. He was held in Nairobi and interviewed by the FBI before being allowed to return to the United States.

Baxam planned to travel to Somalia in order to live under Sharia law, according to the complaint, and told law enforcement that "his loyalties are to Islam and not to the United States."

According to the Department of Justice, "Al Shabaab is a brutal militia group that uses intimidation and violence to undermine Somalia's transitional federal government."

The group was designated a foreign terrorist organization in 2008.