SGT Bergdahl Charged with Desertion

Originally published by Thomas J. Crane.

SGT Bowe Bergdahl has been charged with desertion with intent to shirk important or hazardous duty. The charges will go before an Art. 32 hearing, which is equivalent to a grand jury. He may not spend any time in prison, since he served five years as prisoner of the Taliban. Many members of any court-martial board will find that to be punishment enough. See CBS news report. I previously wrote about Bowe Bergdahl here.

Sgt. Begddahl simply walked away from his FOB. He had done that before when he was training here in the US. Sitting from afar, I have to wonder if his mental faculties are all there. When I was in Iraq, I heard about one solider who simply walked out the front gate, with no weapon or helmet. He simply walked out like he was back home. Serving in a combat zone imposes considerable stress. Those of us who are not completely stable anyway will do crazy things. I do not know, sitting miles way from any real knowledge about the case, whether Sgt. Bergdahl knew what he was doing when he walked away from his FOB. But, leaving the FOB with no weapon, no helmet and no body armor was not a rational act.

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