Bergdahl’s platoon leader testifies

The 33 soldiers who were with Bergdahl at Observation Post Mest were worn ragged during the 2009 search, dubbed “Operation Yukon Recovery”, three witnesses testified Thursday in the first day of Bergdahl’s Article 32 hearing.

The prisoner exchange that brought Bergdahl back to the USA has been strongly criticized by many Republicans and some Democrats, who say it was politically motivated and violated the US policy of not negotiating with terrorists.

Assigned to a desk job at Fort Sam Houston, Bergdahl must be escorted off-base for fear of his safety, his lawyer Eugene Fidell said in a statement this week.

“Physically, mentally I was defeated”, Billings said, adding that he felt like he had “failed” his men.

Billings said he hadn’t been told the U.S. Army Coast Guard had discharged Bergdahl previously for psychological problems or that the Army waived its standards for mental health to admit him.

He was captured within days by insurgents affiliated with the Taliban, and held until the White House agreed last year to a controversial deal in which he was exchanged for five Taliban detainees held at the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Bergdahl was given the rank of sergeant during his time spent with the Taliban.

Captain Billings sent a message to his commanding officers saying he “couldn’t find one of his own, that’s a hard pill to swallow”.

Finally, Bergdahl’s battalion commander, Col. Clinton Baker, said that although no soldiers died as part of the search, there was a spike in improvised explosive device attacks because soldiers were going to places they ordinarily would have avoided.

Billings told military prosecutor Maj.

Bergdahl is charged with desertion and misbehavior before the enemy. Abrams will decide whether the case should be referred to a court-martial or be resolved in another manner.

That will be the question Thursday as arguments are presented on whether a court-martial should be initiated over his disappearance from a base in Afghanistan.

Bergdahl’s legal team offered no opening statement save for a single plea that the Army release a transcript of Bergdahl’s interview with Maj. Margaret Kurz, opened Thursday by insisting that Bergdahl, disgruntled, acted with “deliberate disregard when he left his post” and “snuck out … intending to draw attention to himself so he could have a personal audience with the general”.

He said Fidell might argue that Bergdahl should be given something called an “other than honorable discharge” and be allowed to go home. Asked by the defense whether another soldier had asked him about Bergdahl’s mental state, Silvino said, “I did not know”. The Times said Fidell has cited an Army investigation that determined that Bergdahl did not intend to desert, and that he’d instead left his post to report “disturbing circumstances” to the “nearest general officer”. The prosecution argues that Bergdahl deserted his unit voluntarily while deployed in Afghanistan in June of 2009.