I'm not sure what you guys are doing wrong..but here are my experiences:
PLAYER F/A-18 (Cobra) and ESCORTED E-2C (Knucklehead)
PLAYER WP 1 has ESCORT action with TARGET as E-2C.
E-2C flies through 3 WPs in a box pattern, with the last one being the RELEASE ESCORTS. THE PLAYER has a WP 2 after the RELEASE ESCORT WP.
First off... WP1 is WP1 and WP 2 is WP 2. No changes.
When I approach the E-2, my alter ego pilot radios: "Knucklehead 1-1 We have you in sight"
I fly around with the E-2C and we he reaches the RELEAS ESCORTS WP, he radios: "Cobra 11, Knucklehead 11, We're headed for home." (I didn't get voice here, just text) At this point the CHECK OUT on my COMMS MENU under ESCORT has changed to a CHECK IN, indicating I have been released. For the heck of it, I sent CHECK IN again, and it changed to CHECK OUT. I hit CHECK OUT, and my alter ego radioed "Cobra 11 is headed for home"
I assume that "I" would have transmitted the message at any time that I chose to break the escort with a CHECK OUT, even if the ESCORTEE wasnt ready to release me.
Now, aside from the fact that the next WP for the E-2C wasn't really a go-home WP, I think that things worked rather well for a scripted escort.