Army: Bergdahl to face highest level military court-martial

The Army said Monday it would refer the desertion case of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl to the highest level of military court-martial, which can impose a harsh penalty.

Bergdahl is charged with walking off his post in Afghanistan in 2009 before he was captured by Taliban insurgents, who held him for nearly five years.

The Army decision to hold a "general court-martial" preserves the option to impose punishment up to life in prison if Bergdahl is found guilty.

In making the announcement, the Army rejected a recommendation from an Army investigating officer that the case be heard by a "special court-martial," which is limited in the punishments it can impose. The officer recommended that Bergdahl be spared jail time or a punitive discharge.

Bergdahl's defense attorney, Eugene Fidell, said in a statement that the defense team  "hoped the case would not go in this direction."

"The convening authority did not follow the advice of the preliminary hearing officer who heard the witnesses," Fidell said, referring to the command that will oversee the court-martial.

Bergdahl, 29, is charged with desertion and misbehavior before the enemy.

"They've decided for a lot of different reasons they want to show that they are going to enforce discipline," said Phil Cave, a former military lawyer now in private practice. "They're putting the hammer down."

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain, R-Ariz., told the Boston Herald in October that his committee would hold hearings on the case if Bergdahl is not punished for his actions. McCain made the comment after the initial recommendation of leniency.

In 2014, the Obama administration exchanged Bergdahl for the release of five Taliban prisoners held in Guantanamo Bay in a deal that triggered outrage from some lawmakers.

Some of his platoon mates in Afghanistan said Bergdahl let his colleagues down by walking off his post, then put soldiers at risk when a manhunt was launched in an effort to find him.

During the preliminary hearing into the charges, Lt. Col. Mark Visger, recommended that the case be referred to a "special court-martial," which is limited to imposing a one-year confinement.

Americans can hear Bergdahl's own account of his actions in the popular podcast, Serial, which has hours of interviews the soldier conducted with filmmaker Mark Boal.

Bergdahl said he initially left the post because he had concerns about his command's leadership and wanted to bring them to the attention of top leaders.

He said he quickly realized that leaving was a mistake, then concocted a plan to redeem himself by trying to stalk Taliban insurgents to get valuable intelligence.

"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. "You know, that I could be what it is that all those guys out there that go to the movies and watch those movies — they all want to be that — but I wanted to prove I was that."

"Doing what I did is me saying that I am like, I don't know, Jason Bourne," he said.