Bowe Bergdahl charged with desertion, Could face life in prison but unlikely

Coach is Right ^ | 3/28/15 | Jim Emerson

[Oldpuppymax]

The Army has charged Bowe Bergdahl with desertion and has referred to an Article 32 military preliminary hearing which is the military version of a grand jury. Their job is to determine whether the charges against Bergdahl are sufficient for a court-martial trial or whether they should be dropped altogether. The court proceedings will be held at joint base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, Texas.

The charges filed against Bergdahl under The Uniform Code of Military Justice are articles 85 and 99.

Article 85 – Desertion.

Definition:

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; quits his unit, organization, or place of duty with intent to avoid hazardous duty or to shirk important service.

Article 99 – Misbehavior before the enemy

Any member of the armed forces who before or in the presence of the enemy—runs away; shamefully abandons, surrenders, or delivers up any command, unit, place, or military property which it is his duty to defend; through disobedience, neglect, or intentional misconduct endangers the safety of any such command, unit, place, or military property; casts away his arms or ammunition; is guilty of cowardly conduct.

Bowe Bergdahl is accused of abandoning his post in Afghanistan in 2009 by leaving his unit in a warzone. He is being charged with desertion for leaving his weapon and ammunition behind and endangering his fellow service members. That fellow soldiers were killed justified the misbehavior before the enemy charge. The combination of charges could lead to a lifetime sentence and a bad conduct discharge. The charges were authorized by Gen. Mark A. Milley, the commanding general of U.S. Army Forces Command.

However, due the political nature of the Bergdahl...

[JayAr36]

Guess what? CNN is already reporting that Bergdahl was only trying to get away to report on lack of discipline and order in his unit. But I have to ask just who was he intending to report this to, “ The enemy?” Somehow this administration is going to find a way to keep this going until after the election.

[central_va]

[Drew68]

Whatever happened to being executed for deserting your post, in war time, in a war zone?

Execution for desertion in the U.S. military took place only one time in the entire 20th Century; Eddie Slovak on January 31, 1945. While the Confederates executed deserters in the Civil War, you'd have to travel back to 1847 for the previous execution for desertion carried out by the U.S. military.

Whatever happened to it? It was never widely applied to begin with.

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

The best bet is that he will be given a DD with reduction in rank to private and forfeiture of all pay and allowances due, and dismissed. The reason for this is while absent, he accrued about $100,000 in back pay, which he would lose, along with any other veterans perquisites.

There is no morale need for him to get free room and board at Leavenworth, and morale and discipline is the purpose of the UCMJ, with justice pulling a distant third.