Beaudry Robert " Bowe " Bergdahl (born March 28, 1986) is a United States Army soldier who was held captive from 2009 to 2014 by the Taliban -aligned Haqqani network in Afghanistan and Pakistan after he deserted.
However, it was announced on August 21 that Bergdahl had rejected a trial by jury and chose instead a trial by military judge Colonel Nance. On October 16, 2017, Bergdahl, via his attorney, pleaded guilty to charges of desertion and misbehavior before the enemy.
Bergdahl was a Private First Class when captured; he was promoted in absentia to Specialist on June 19, 2010, and to Sergeant on June 17, 2011. According to soldiers in Bergdahl's platoon, the morning when Bergdahl was discovered to be missing, his equipment was found neatly stacked,...
"Bergdahl's Defense Is He Was Planning to Come Back". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved March 27, 2015. ^ a b c d e f Robert A. Oppel Jr., Bowe Bergdahl Should Not Be Imprisoned, Army Investigator Says (September 18, 2015).
Bowe BergdahlBeau BergdahlBirth nameBeaudry Robert BergdahlBornMarch 28, 1986 Sun Valley, Idaho, U.S.Service/branchU.S. Army (2008–2020) U.S. Coast Guard (2006, 26 days)RankPrivate4 more rows
November 3, 2017 – Receives a dishonorable discharge from the US Army and will avoid prison time. The military judge also rules that Bergdahl's rank be reduced from sergeant to private and he will be required to pay a $1,000 fine from his salary for the next 10 months.
Bowe Bergdahl, who vanished in Afghanistan and spent five years in brutal captivity before the United States recovered him in a controversial prisoner swap, pleaded guilty Monday to two crimes in connection with his disappearance. Bergdahl, now 31, was a private first class when he went missing in 2009.
In February 2021, Bergdahl filed a petition in federal court seeking to have his military conviction and sentence expunged.
The U.S. has achieved a historic first: There are now no U.S. military personnel held captive in Afghanistan. Bergdahl was the last POW.
Bowe Bergdahl: I was beaten and chained spread-eagled to a bed by captors. US army sergeant Bowe Bergdahl says he was tortured repeatedly in the five years he was held captive by the Taliban: beaten with a copper cable, chained spread-eagle to a bed, and threatened with execution after trying to escape.
Bowe Bergdahl received a dishonorable discharge from the US Army, but will avoid prison time for desertion and misbehavior before the enemy after abandoning his outpost in Afghanistan in 2009, a military judge ruled Friday.
Inside Hailey, Idaho - Bowe Bergdahl's Hometown.
Bergdahl was shaking and appeared emotional as the verdict was read. “He’s certainly glad this is over,” Bergdahl’s attorney, Eugene Fidell, told reporters after the sentencing. Fidell also said he will appeal the decision.
Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl has plead guilty to desertion and misbehavior before the enemy . What are the events that led to this moment?
Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl pleaded guilty to desertion and misbehavior before the enemy. (Reuters/Jonathan Ernst) Bergdahl has said that he left his post and intended to alert people about problems he perceived within his unit. Investigators said Bergdahl suffered from schizotypal personality disorder when he left his station.
Bergdahl had pleaded guilty to desertion and misbehavior before the enemy. A judge spared him jail time and dishonorably discharged him. He faced up to life in prison for his charges; prosecutors wanted a 14-year punishment. He will also have to pay a $1,000 fine every month for 10 months.
Then 23, Bergdahl went missing from his remote infantry station near the Pakistan border in June 2009. His disappearance launched a massive search operation. Bergdahl was quickly captured by the Taliban after leaving his post. The U.S. tracked him for several years before successfully negotiating his release in 2014.
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The wife of National Guard Master Sgt. Mark Allen – who is confined to a wheelchair and unable to speak after being shot in the head while searching for Bergdahl – also gave an emotional testimony. Shannon Allen said her husband is unable to play with their children and “can’t even hold hands anymore.”.
That decision came days after Bergdahl's first interview on "Serial" was released. In the podcasts, Bergdahl has detailed the torture and arduous conditions he faced during captivity.
The defense team faced a setback in December when an Army general sent the case to a general court martial, where Bergdahl faces the possibility of a life sentence, rather than a special court martial, in which the maximum sentence would be a year in prison. An investigating officer and preliminary hearing officer had each previously recommended that Bergdahl’s case did not merit jail time.
Bergdahl left his combat outpost in Afghanistan's Paktika province June 30, 2009, and was quickly captured by the Taliban. He was a prisoner of the Taliban for five years before he was freed through a controversial swap with Guantanamo Bay prisoners May 31, 2014. Questions soon arose over why Bergdahl left his post and the consequences for his fellow soldiers, however. The former POW is now scheduled to face a court martial starting Aug. 8.
Lt. Col. Frank Rosenblatt, left, with his client Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who is facing a possible life sentence.
On June 16, 2014, the U.S. Army said that it had begun investigating the facts and circumstances surrounding the disappearance and capture of Bergdahl in Afghanistan.
On June 25, 2014, the U.S. Army stated that there is "no evidence" that Bergdahl "engaged in any misconduct" during his years in captivity. The 2010 Pentagon investigation referred to above dealt with events leading up to his capture. In July 2014, Bergdahl was returned to active duty.
Bergdahl was born in 1986 in Sun Valley, Idaho to Robert Bergdahl, a commercial truck driver, and his wife, Jani Larson Bergdahl. He is of Norwegian and Swedish ancestry. He has an older sister, Sky Albrecht. Both Bergdahl and his sister were home schooled by their mother in Hailey, Idaho. The family attended Sovereign Redeemer Presbyterian Church, an Orthodox Presbyterian Church.
Bergdahl received a GED certificate through the College of Southern Idaho. As an adult, Bergdahl …
In 2006, Bergdahl entered basic training in the United States Coast Guard but was discharged after twenty-six days for psychological reasons, receiving an "uncharacterized discharge".
In 2008, Bergdahl enlisted in the United States Army and graduated from the Infantry School at Fort Benning, Georgia. He was then assigned to the 1st Battalion, 501st Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, based at Fort Richardson, Alaska.
Bergdahl walked away from his battalion on the night of June 30, 2009, at observation post (OP) Mest near the town of Yahya Kheyl in Paktika Province. Accounts of his capture differ. In a video, Bergdahl said he was captured when he fell behind on a patrol. Taliban sources allege he was ambushed after becoming drunk off base; U.S. military sources deny that claim, stating, "The Taliban are known for lying and what they are claiming [is] not true." A Department of Defense sp…
On May 31, 2014, Bergdahl was released by his captors and recovered by Delta Force, a Special Mission Unit component of the Joint Special Operations Command in eastern Afghanistan. The release was brokered with the Taliban by the American, Qatari, and Afghan governments, in exchange for five Guantanamo Bay detainees transferred to Qatari custody for at least one year. At 10:30 a.m. (EDT) on May 31, 2014, Bergdahl was handed over by 18 Taliban members to a speci…
As an infantryman who had engaged in combat with the enemy prior to his capture, Bergdahl was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge and a total of 10 overseas service bars for the five years he spent in the combat zone in Afghanistan.
His awards and service ribbons include the Army Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, Global War on Terror Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon, a…
• Finding Bergdahl A five-part series on the search for Bergdahl in VICE magazine by Robert Young Pelton
• Transcript of Bergdahl's Article 32 hearing
• Serial Podcast An 11 part series released in the winter of 2015/16 investigating the motives and circumstances of this case.