The 29-year-old, who was held for five years by the Taliban in Afghanistan, deferred entering a plea during the brief court appearance on Tuesday.
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Bergdahl arrived at Fort Bragg Tuesday to face a military judge on charges of desertion and misbehavior. Bergdahl was arraigned on charges of desertion and endangering troops stemming from his decision to leave his outpost in Afghanistan in 2009. In May 2014, Bergdahl was released by the Taliban in exchange for prisoners being held by the U.S.at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility.
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If convicted at a general court-martial, Bergdahl could get life in prison on the misbehavior charge and up to five years for desertion. “Let’s keep our options open, ‘” he said.
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But he also faces a second more serious charge, “misbehavior before the enemy”, that could carry a life sentence. The more the public hears Bergdahl’s own words, the better, he has said. Yet General Robert Abrams, head of the US Army Forces Command, eventually referred Bergdahl’s case to a general court-marital.
Legal databases and media accounts turn up only a few misbehaviour cases since 2001, when fighting began in Afghanistan, followed by Iraq less than two years later.
At the time, Bergdahl’s defense attorney, Eugene Fidell, said in a statement that the defense team “hoped the case would not go in this direction”.
In recorded phone conversations with filmmaker Mark Boal, which have been broadcast by the podcast Serial, Bergdahl has defended himself, saying he walked away from his base because of actions by his Army leadership that he believed were putting his unit in danger.
“I had this fantastic idea that I was going to prove to the world that I was the real thing”, Bergdahl said in the interview. It was left up in the air for several months if he would be tried in a misdemeanor court, but last week officials determined he would be tried in a general court-martial.
He said trying the case will “determine once and for all if Bowe Bergdahl is a hero or a deserter”.
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Additional information from the Associated Press.
