WASHINGTON — Following a lengthy investigation and a political firestorm, the Army has decided to charge Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl with desertion, according to his lawyer.
Eugene Fidell told Stars and Stripes that he has been given a charge sheet with Article 85 and Article 99 charges.
Article 85 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice refers to any member of the armed forces who “without authority goes or remains absent from his unit, organization, or place of duty with intent to remain away therefrom permanently” or “quits his unit, organization, or place of duty with intent to avoid hazardous duty or to shirk important service.”
Desertion in a time of war can be punishable by death or “such other punishment as a court-martial may direct.”
Article 99 refers to “misbehavior before the enemy,” which applies to any servicemember who “runs away” or “shamefully abandons, surrenders, or delivers up any command, unit, place, or military property which it is his duty to defend.”
The Army is expected to publicly announce its decision Wednesday afternoon at Fort Bragg, N.C.
Bergdahl spent nearly five years in captivity after walking off his post in eastern Afghanistan in 2009 and falling into the hands of insurgents.
Fellow soldiers have accused Bergdahl of deserting his unit, and some have said that servicemembers died while searching for him.
A prolonged Army investigation and review process began in June just weeks after Bergdahl was freed.
Bergdahl remains on active duty and has been working in an administrative position at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio since he transitioned out of medical observation last year.
Prior to the Army’s decision, Bergdahl faced a wide spectrum of possible outcomes, ranging from no legal action and an honorable discharge, to being charged for desertion in a warzone.
Some officials have suggested that the Army should not bring the hammer down on Bergdahl, arguing that his years spent as a militant prisoner were punishment enough.
Bergdahl’s legal situation and the circumstances surrounding his disappearance from his unit aren’t the only sources of controversy in his case. The way the Obama administration secured his release from militant captivity also drew fire.
The soldier was being held by the Taliban-affiliated Haqqani Network, which had been designated a terrorist organization by the State Department. In exchange for his freedom, the Obama administration released five Taliban detainees from the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Bergdahl was handed over to American special operations forces in Afghanistan in May 2014.
Republican lawmakers and other observers accused President Barack Obama of jeopardizing national security by releasing people who could rejoin the battlefield and take up arms against the United States.
Obama and the Pentagon brass defended the swap, saying that the U.S. government does not leave men and women in uniform behind, regardless of the circumstances of their capture.
Obama administration officials also denied that they broke the long-standing U.S. policy of negotiating with terrorists, saying negotiations with Bergdahl’s captors were conducted through intermediaries, including the government of Qatar.
harper.jon@stripes.com
Twitter: @JHarperStripes
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