Bergdahl left -- "snuck off," according to Maj. Margaret Kurz on the first day of his Article 32 hearing -- to hike 30 miles to a larger base, FOB Sharana, to report what he said was misconduct to the commanding general there. After he disappeared, Kurz said, "for 45 days, the only operations in Paktika province was to find the accused." Bergdahl, 29, sat calmly during the proceeding at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, Texas, flanked by his attorney, Eugene Fidell, and two Army defense lawyers. There has been no announcement of whether he will testify. He is charged with desertion with intent to shirk hazardous or important duty, which carries a maximum penalty of five years, and misbehavior before the enemy, which carries a possible life sentence. Bergdahl stared straight ahead through most of the six-hour hearing, blinking repeatedly and rarely speaking with his lawyers. His parents were not in attendance.
According to testimony Thursday from his former platoon commander, Capt. John Billings, Bergdahl was a stellar soldier before he disappeared in the early morning hours of June 30, 2009. "A great soldier from all accounts," he testified. "Always did everything he was asked to do. Never complained. No issues." His disappearance, Billings said, came as a shock that quickly became a burden. The operations tempo increased significantly, he said, with less planning and fewer safeguards, all seeking Bergdahl, who had been captured by the Taliban-associated Haqqani network. He was held for five years until a controversial Obama administration prisoner exchange freed him. Soon after the disappearance, Billings said he took a nine-man foot patrol beyond the wire for 19 days to look for Bergdahl in searing heat.
Defense lawyer Lt. Col. Franklin Rosenblatt told Billings that many people believed the search for Bergdahl resulted in the deaths of six or seven soldiers and asked whether that were true. "None of my guys died looking for Sgt. Bergdahl," Billings said. Rosenblatt also revealed that Bergdahl, who had once sought to join the Foreign Legion, had been discharged from the Coast Guard for psychological issues before he was allowed to enlist in the Army in 2008, when standards had been lowered to field enough troops, and had also been found by an Army medical board to be suffering from a severe mental disease or defect.
Maj. Silvino Silvino, Bergdahl's company commander, was also called upon by Kurz to discuss the dangers of the area he was responsible for, which he said doubled in size and grew more dangerous during the 45 days the company searched for the missing soldier, "sleeping in the dirt," cold and "miserable" for weeks at a time. The men in "Blackfoot" company were confused, Silvino said, by why they had to search village to village in three provinces for a man they believed had walked away and put them at risk. "I'd tell them: 'He's our brother. We have to get him back,'" Silvino said. One soldier was in three IED hits, Silvino said, and had to recuperate at FOB Sharona for a likely concussion.
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Prosecutor: Bergdahl Deliberately Deserted, Endangering Other Troops | Military.com
