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Testifying at the outset of an Article 32 hearing to determine if Bergdahl should face a military trial on desertion and other charges, Capt. John Billings described the weeks of searching for the Idaho native, often on little food or sleep and in temperatures in the high 90s. "Physically, mentally I was defeated," Billings said, adding that he felt like he had "failed" his men. Billings said he thought his men were joking when they told him on June 30, 2009, that Bergdahl had gone missing from their post in southeastern Afghanistan's Paktika Province.
Before disappearing, Bergdahl had expressed opposition to the war in general and misgivings about his own role in it. Military prosecutor Maj. Margaret Kurz said Thursday that Bergdahl had actually been planning for weeks to abandon the post and had emailed friends and family about his plans beforehand. "Under the cover of darkness, he snuck off the post," Kurz told the officer presiding over the hearing, saying she thinks the evidence is sufficient to warrant a court-martial. Bergdahl spent five years as a Taliban captive before being exchanged for five Taliban commanders being held at the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Many Republicans and some Democrats have criticized the deal, saying it was politically motivated and violated the U.S. policy on not negotiating with terrorists.
Wearing his blue and black dress uniform, Bergdahl took notes throughout the hearing, which is taking place at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, where he has been stationed since returning to the U.S. last year. When asked by the presiding officer if he understood the charges, he said "Yes sir I do." Before the hearing, which could last several days, legal experts said they expected Bergdahl's lawyers to argue that he suffered enough during his years in captivity. His lead attorney, Eugene Fidell, has cited an Army investigation that determined Bergdahl left his post, but not the Army, and that his "specific intent was to bring what he thought were disturbing circumstances to the attention of the nearest general officer."
Fidell said he plans to call witnesses, but he declined to say whether Bergdahl would be among them or to disclose further details about his strategy. While questioning Billings on Thursday, one of Bergdahl's attorneys asked if Billings knew about Bergdahl's mental health history, including his psychological discharge from the U.S. Coast Guard or that an Army psychiatric board had concluded that Bergdahl possessed "severe mental defect." Billings, who testified that Bergdahl was a "great soldier" who had never previously caused him problems, said he wasn't aware.
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Lieutenant Colonel Mark Visger, the presiding officer at the so-called Article 32 hearing last month in San Antonio, also made recommendations in a memorandum this week for Bergdahl's case to be moved to the military equivalent of misdemeanor court, the lawyers said. Military officials were not immediately available for comment. U.S. military prosecutors told the two-day hearing in September that Bergdahl had intended to desert his post. They said his actions fundamentally altered American operations in Afghanistan and called for him to be held accountable. Bergdahl, 29, was charged earlier this year with desertion and misbehavior before the enemy. He faces up to life in prison if convicted of the more serious offense of misbehavior.
U.S. Army Sergeant Bowe Berghdal is pictured in this undated handout photo provided by the U.S. Army
Lawyers for Bergdahl would like Visger to recommend a punishment under Article 15, they said. Visger's recommendations have not been publicly released. Under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, Article 15 punishments include reduction of one grade in rank or a requirement that the soldier perform additional duties. Visger will recommend the course of action for resolving Bergdahl's case, such as whether it should proceed to a court-martial or be handled in some other manner. The final decision will be made by the Commanding General of the U.S. Army Forces Command at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
Major General Kenneth Dahl, who led the military's investigation into Bergdahl's disappearance and capture, told last month's hearing Bergdahl should not be imprisoned, saying he was not a Taliban sympathizer. Dahl characterized Bergdahl as an unrealistically idealistic soldier who left his post to report concerns about his unit's leadership to a general at another base. He added that none of the soldiers sent to look for Bergdahl had been killed. Bergdahl disappeared on June 30, 2009, from Combat Outpost Mest-Lalak in Paktika Province, Afghanistan, and was captured by the Taliban, where he suffered years of abuse and torture. He was freed five years later in a prisoner swap that sent five Taliban leaders who were being held at Guantanamo to Qatar.
U.S. Army hearing officer recommends no jail for Bergdahl
Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl's difficult childhood and washout from Coast Guard boot camp stoked serious psychiatric disorders that helped spur him to walk off his remote post in Afghanistan in 2009, a psychiatrist testified Wednesday. Dr. Charles Morgan, called as a defense witness at Bergdahl's sentencing hearing, said the soldier was already suffering from a schizophrenia-like disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder when he disappeared in Afghanistan. Morgan, a forensic psychiatrist and defense consultant, said interviews with family and friends from Bergdahl's childhood, as well as a lengthy exam with Bergdahl, convinced him the soldier was suffering from schizotypal personality disorder when he disappeared in Afghanistan. He said his findings were consistent with a brief Army Sanity Board document that previously made the diagnosis public.
On the stand, Morgan went into much greater detail than what was previously disclosed about Bergdahl's mental health. He said Bergdahl has an internal, self-critical commentary that he doesn't recognize as his own thoughts. He also said he engages in fantasy and has thoughts of self-castration to purify himself. Bergdahl and others with the disorder "have this experience of their own inner life as if it's not them," Morgan said. He said the internal commentary manifests in thoughts such as: "You're never going to be good enough." However, Morgan said the commentary isn't an auditory hallucination, and Bergdahl isn't psychotic. He said Bergdahl knew right from wrong when he walked off his post. Still, the disorder makes it difficult for Bergdahl to see the second- and third-order effects of his actions and how they will impact other people, Morgan said.
Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, left, leaves the Fort Bragg courtroom facility after a sentencing hearing on Oct. 31, 2017, on Fort Bragg, N.C.
Morgan believes Bergdahl had post-traumatic stress disorder even before he enlisted in the Army in 2008 because of his childhood with a quick-tempered father. Symptoms of anxiety and tunnel vision, sometimes present when he interacted with his father growing up, occurred the night Bergdahl had a 2006 panic attack at Coast Guard boot camp that caused him to be discharged, Morgan said. Bergdahl's father believed in corporal punishment and punched holes in the walls when he was angry, Morgan said. Growing up, Bergdahl would sometimes hide when he heard the sound of his father's truck pulling up to their house in Idaho. Bergdahl has said he walked off his remote post in Afghanistan in 2009 without authorization intending to reach another base and describe what he saw as problems with his unit to another commander. Morgan testified that kind of action was consistent with the schizotypal personality disorder diagnosis. "I think he believes there are times if it's the morally right thing to do, you have to break the rules," he said. "There's not a thinking through of: 'Are there other ways to achieve this goal?'"
Since the defense began its sentencing arguments, Bergdahl has taken the stand to apologize to the troops who were wounded in the search for him. And two military agents who debriefed Bergdahl testified Tuesday about how much valuable intelligence he provided when he was returned in a prisoner swap. Prosecutors presented evidence that the wounds to the troops who searched for him merit stiff punishment. Bergdahl faces up to life in prison. The military judge hearing the case has wide discretion on his punishment because Bergdahl didn't strike a plea agreement with prosecutors when he admitted to desertion and misbehavior before the enemy. Morgan was scheduled to be questioned by prosecutors Wednesday afternoon. Closing arguments are expected later this week.
On Monday, Bergdahl began the defense's sentencing presentation by taking the stand to apologize to those wounded searching for him. He also described the brutal conditions he faced in five years of captivity by Taliban allies, including beatings with copper wire and unending bouts of gastrointestinal problems brought on by squalid conditions. He said he was kept in a cage for four of years in captivity after several escape attempts. He said his muscles became so weak he could barely stand or walk. The 31-year-old soldier from Hailey, Idaho, was brought home by President Barack Obama in 2014 in a swap for five Taliban prisoners at Guantanamo Bay. Obama said at the time the U.S. does not leave its service members on the battlefield. Republicans roundly criticized Obama, and Donald Trump went further while campaigning for president, repeatedly calling Bergdahl a "dirty, rotten traitor" who deserved to be executed by firing squad or thrown out of a plane without a parachute.
Psychiatrist: Bergdahl Mental Disorder Factored in Desertion | Military.com
The testimony at Bergdahl's sentencing was meant to counter prosecution evidence favoring stiff punishment, including several service members who testified about wounds they suffered on search missions after Bergdahl's 2009 disappearance. Bergdahl faces up to life in prison after pleading guilty to desertion and misbehavior before the enemy for walking off his remote post in Afghanistan in 2009. The Army judge has wide leeway to decide Bergdahl's sentence because he didn't strike a plea agreement with prosecutors. Amber Dach, who spent 16 years in military intelligence, was the primary analyst assigned to Bergdahl's case for the five years after he disappeared. She described how eager he was to help intelligence officials at a hospital in Germany days after he was returned to U.S. authorities. Though his voice was weak and raspy, he helped authorities and even drew diagrams in his downtime to bring to his next debriefing session.
Dach and another official who debriefed Bergdahl both testified that his time in Germany was extended partly so he could offer additional time-sensitive intelligence. "He was very motivated to just download all of the details that he recalled," she testified. "It was a gold mine. It really reshaped the way we did intel collection in the area." An official from the military agency that helps reintegrate former captives and develops survival training for service members testified that information Bergdahl provided him was invaluable. Terrence Russell, a division chief for the Joint Personnel Recovery Agency, developed a 1,200-page transcript from debriefing Bergdahl that was turned into a database. The information produced reports on tactics used by insurgents and hostage-takers in the region that are still used by the military.
Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl arrives at the Fort Bragg courtroom facility for a sentencing hearing on Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2017, on Fort Bragg, N.C.
Russell said he'd like to learn even more from Bergdahl but the soldier's legal case has impeded that. "Can you give him to me tomorrow? I need him. I need him now," he said to a defense attorney. "The fact that I can't get that information is wrong. I need that." He said he'd like to add Bergdahl to a roster of about 30 service members taken captive in recent conflicts dating to the Gulf War who can provide videos or lectures for military survival training. "We don't have very many examples coming out of Afghanistan," he said. He also reaffirmed his previous statements that Bergdahl's captivity was worse than any American prisoner of war has experienced since the Vietnam era.
On Monday, Bergdahl began the defense presentation by apologizing to those wounded searching for him. He also described the brutal conditions he faced, including beatings with copper wire and unending bouts of gastrointestinal problems brought on by squalid conditions. He said he was kept in a cage for four out of the five years in captivity after several escape attempts. He said his muscles became so weak he could barely stand or walk. Russell, who's debriefed more than 100 former hostages and prisoners of war, said Bergdahl's time in the cage was damaging psychologically because he was kept in isolation nearly the entire time. "They simply shut the door. Long-term isolation. Psychological abuse," he said. "It was extreme neglect. They just let him nearly rot inside that cage for four years." The defense showed the court images of a replica of the cage that Russell's agency built, using Bergdahl's sketches. Russell uses it for survival training.
The 31-year-old soldier from Hailey, Idaho, was brought home by President Barack Obama in 2014 in a swap for five Taliban prisoners at Guantanamo Bay. Obama said at the time the U.S. does not leave its service members on the battlefield. Republicans roundly criticized Obama, and Donald Trump went further while campaigning for president, repeatedly calling Bergdahl a "dirty, rotten traitor" who deserved to be executed by firing squad or thrown out of a plane without a parachute. Bergdahl's sentencing hearing is expected to last several more days.
Agents: Bergdahl Debriefs Were Intelligence 'Gold Mine' | Military.com
