Posted on 03/27/2015 11:17:59 AM PDT by jazusamo
Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl was not intending to desert his post in Afghanistan but instead wanted to walk to the nearest U.S. military post to report concerns about his unit, according to an Army report seen by U.S. officials.
Bergdahl was planning to report problems with "order and discipline" in his unit and believed he could not trust his own commanders to deal with them, an unnamed senior defense official told CNN.
The report was part of a fact-finding investigation conducted by Army investigators that was presented to Army Gen. Mark Milley before he charged Bergdahl with desertion and misbehavior before the enemy.
"This was a kid who had leadership concerns on his mind," a second unnamed official told CNN. "He wasn't fed up, he wasn't planning to desert."
"I can't tell you if his concerns were valid, but in his mind they were," the official added.
Both officials said Bergdahl believed he could make it to the next base by relying on wilderness skills he learned growing up in rural Idaho.
Bergdahl's intent is expected to be part of his lawyer's defense of the 28-year-old Army sergeant as he faces an Article 32 hearing, which is a preliminary hearing to decide the next steps, including a potential court-martial.
In a 13-page letter to the Army, Bergdahl's lawyer, Eugene Fidell, reportedly wrote that the report "basically concludes that Sgt. Bergdahl did not intend to remain away from the Army permanently."
The letter also says the report concludes that Bergdahl's "specific intent was to bring what he thought were disturbing circumstances to the attention of the nearest general officer."
The Army's report has not been released publicly.
CNN reported last year that a British filmmaker who was working in Afghanistan in 2009 filmed Bergdahl and other members of his platoon in Afghanistan, allegedly showing lax discipline. One sergeant was demoted and three others reassigned.
I suppose he also didn’t intend to leave a note in his tent saying that he was leaving to start a new life.
“Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl was not intending to desert his post in Afghanistan but instead wanted to walk to the nearest U.S. military post to report concerns about his unit, according to an Army report seen by U.S. officials.”
To quote the cat-like alien Kirha from the novel False Colors: “This is all, how do you say, ‘the warmed leavings of a male cow.’”
Bump
I would really like to see that report. It might recount what Bergdahl told its writers rather than stating the writers’ conclusion was Berdahl went hiking off to contact the general. Indeed, the writers might have recounted Bergdahl’s story and gone on to debunk it.
Running to tell the general is NOT the way problems are handled in any branch of the military. He knew that unless he was as dumb as a bag of sand.
I give him credit for a vivid imagination.
He’d say anything now. Absolutely anything.
Defense was stupid not to take a deal.
ok..bear with me..I never served in the military..but if bergdahl is telling the truth..wouldn’t he be in a heap of trouble if he did make it to another post to “report unruly behavior” to some “other officer”? Wouldn’t the “other officer” ask bergdahl if he were AWOL? Wouldn’t the “other officer” quickly call bergdahl’s base so that they won’t risk soldiers lives by going out to look for him?
Everyone was mean to him.
wuss
He should have claimed he was pining for the Fjords. That would at least be more believable at this point.
Right, he was just going from one base to another, which is why he left his gun, bullet proof vest, and all his survival gear at the base. Because if I were going to go walk-about in a war zone through enemy territory, I would definitely want to make sure all my military gear remained safely back at base where it couldn’t fall into enemy hands. It’s not like I might actually need it or anything. Please...
Yep, the guys a flake. He was in long enough to know better and was looking to collaborate with the Taliban in my view.
the administration has ordered a propaganda offensive.
Didn’t the Army intercept radio traffic from a nearby village saying that a soldier walked into the village looking to make contact with the Taliban?
In a different time and era, Bergdahl would have been summarily shot for desertion and Soetoro hanged for high treason.
I read that during the backlash to 0bama meeting his parents at the WH in several different stories, I’m sure that will come out at his upcoming Article 32 hearing.
Intend BS. He did!!!! Is that so hard for these rotten communist democrats to understand or are they that stupid? Guess I answered my own question.
Because this bull crap "Army report" doesn't exist.
The number 1 rules of a sentry’s general orders is “I will guard everything within the limits of my post and quit my post only when properly relieved.” No matter what his claimed excuse is (he couldn’t sneak off base while he was not on guard duty?), he deliberately and intentionally abandoned his post in a war zone placing others in extreme peril. There is NO excuse for his behavior. Fry him!
Exactly. Just tailor the intent and excuses claims to fit the circumstances.
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