Sept. 18--REPORTING FROM SAN ANTONIO -- A general who investigated the disappearance of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl testified Friday that Bergdahl was "unrealistically idealistic" when he left his post in Afghanistan, hoping to draw the attention of a commander to problems that he believed were putting his unit at risk.
Maj. Gen. Kenneth Dahl spoke for the defense at a hearing to determine whether Bergdahl will face a court-martial on desertion charges.
Dahl, who interviewed Bergdahl as part of his investigation, said that the sergeant later admitted that he was "young, naﶥ and inexperienced" and was "remorseful" about endangering fellow soldiers who were forced to search for him.
"I do not believe there is a jail sentence at the end of this process" for Bergdahl, the general said, calling it, "inappropriate."
Prosecutors, who have argued that Bergdahl acted with "deliberate disregard" in abandoning his post, declined to cross-examine Dahl during the hearing at Joint Base San Antonio-Ft. Sam Houston.
Hearing officer Lt. Col. Mark Visger will ultimately recommend to a general whether Bergdahl should face a court-martial on charges of desertion and "misbehavior before the enemy" -- that he put fellow soldiers at risk, a charge that carries a potential life sentence.
Bergdahl was a private when he vanished June 30, 2009, was captured by the Taliban and held for nearly five years by members of the militant Haqqani network. Last year, President Obama agreed to free him in exchange for five Taliban prisoners, a controversial swap that the administration defended even after the military announced Bergdahl would be charged.
Dahl presented a profile of Bergdahl constructed after a two-month investigation with a team of nearly two dozen people, including a young soldier with infantry experience in Afghanistan and two civilian doctors.
He described a soldier whose upbringing shaped his view of not just the world, but himself. Raised "at the edge of the grid," home-schooled and denied normal social interactions, Bergdahl was "bright" and "well-read," Dahl said, but introverted, with out-sized expectations of himself and others.
He said Bergdahl saw himself as akin to the individualist character John Galt in Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged," who was "willing to sacrifice himself for the cause." He said Bergdahl also mentioned his interest in the "samurai code," which dictates that "if you see what you perceive to be a moral wrong, you act immediately" -- regardless of potential consequences.
Bergdahl's idealism was part of the reason why, before joining the Army, he had "washed out" of the U.S. Coast Guard during boot camp, Dahl said.
Once he joined the Army, Bergdahl found fault with his training and commanders, but he was "very motivated to deploy" and not "sympathetic to the other side," Dahl said, adding that Bergdahl was instead "frustrated" that he couldn't "play a bigger role."
"Did you find any evidence that he was disposed to go over to the other side?" said Bergdahl's lead attorney, Eugene R. Fidell of Yale University law school.
Dahl said no.
"Sgt. Bergdahl perceived a problem in the leadership of his platoon and that the problem was so severe that it put members of the platoon in danger," Dahl said.
He didn't think he could turn to other lower-level commanders, Dahl said, because he saw them as weak, "only in it for the money, only in it for the rank."
So Bergdahl bought an Afghan headdress and "outer garment" at a bazaar to remain "inconspicuous," left his gun behind and slipped out after 10 p.m., intending to travel about 20 miles to a nearby base where he planned to turn himself in and insist on speaking with the general based there.
"He probably would have gotten to speak to a general, had he made it," Dahl said.
Instead, by 10 a.m. the following morning, Bergdahl was captured by the Taliban, Dahl said.
A nurse practitioner who treated Bergdahl after his return to the U.S. testified Friday that he immediately tried to escape but was beaten and confined, causing serious injuries to his left shoulder, lower legs and back that rendered him "non-deployable."
Curtis Aberle, who is based at Ft. Sam Houston, testified that Bergdahl also suffers from post-traumatic stress "due to the nature of his captivity" and said that he would recommend the sergeant go before a medical board to determine the nature of his disability rather than a court-martial.
Bergdahl's defense team argued at the start of the hearing Thursday that a medical board found that, at the time of his capture, he suffered from a "severe mental disease or defect," although commanders said they were not made aware of that.
On Friday, squad leader Greg Leatherman, who supervised Bergdahl, said he became concerned when the sergeant wasn't socializing with fellow soldiers and had grown dissatisfied with the mission. Leatherman said once they reached Afghanistan, he tried to alert Bergdahl's first sergeant, suggesting the soldier "chat with someone ... to try to integrate him into the deployment, into the mission."
But Leatherman said the first sergeant dismissed his concerns, essentially telling him to mind his own business.
Bergdahl did not testify at the hearing, and Fidell said the defense has no plans to call him as a witness, noting that his interview with Dahl was lengthy and that the 371-page transcription has been entered as evidence.
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