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Fort Bragg, N.C. • Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who abandoned his post in Afghanistan in 2009 and was held captive for five years by the Taliban, was charged Wednesday by the U.S. military with desertion and misbehavior before the enemy, and could get life in prison if convicted.
Bergdahl, 28, was captured by the Taliban and held by members of the Haqqani network, an insurgent group tied to the Taliban, which operates in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
On May 31, Bergdahl was handed over to U.S. Special Forces in Afghanistan as part of an exchange of five Taliban commanders who were imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The exchange set off a debate over whether the U.S. should have released the Taliban members. Little is known about what the five have been doing in Qatar, where they are monitored by the government. Wednesday's announcement brought further criticism of the exchange from some lawmakers, including Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, and the chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security.
"President Obama endangered our national security and broke the law when he chose to negotiate with terrorists and release hardened enemy combatants from Guantanamo Bay in exchange for Sgt. Bergdahl — who many believed at the time was a deserter," McCaul said in a statement.
The Obama administration appeared to stand by the swap.
"Was it worth it? Absolutely. We have a commitment to our men and women serving overseas, or in our military, defending our national security every day, that we will do everything we can to bring them home, and that's what we did in this case," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in an interview on Fox News.
The misbehavior charge could land Bergdahl in prison for life, though some legal experts said a lengthy sentence was unlikely. He also could be dishonorably discharged and forfeit all his pay if convicted of either charge.
Next, an Article 32 hearing — similar to a civilian grand jury proceeding — will be held at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, where Bergdahl has been performing administrative duties. A date was not announced. From there, it could be referred to a court-martial and go to trial.
His attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The misbehavior charge is rarely seen in military cases, typically reserved for shameful or cowardly conduct, said Daniel Conway, a military defense lawyer. Conway said he wouldn't expect the Army to seek much prison time for Bergdahl because of his time as a Taliban captive, but officials needed to prosecute the case because a conviction means Bergdahl cannot collect special compensation as a prisoner of war.
Some within the military have suggested that Bergdahl's long capture was punishment enough, but others, including members of his former unit, have called for serious punishment, saying that other service members risked their lives — and several died — searching for him.
One of those in Bergdahl's platoon, Cody Full, 26, of Houston, said Bergdahl should be stripped of all his pay and benefits and be dishonorably discharged.
"Everybody else stayed with the oath and did what they signed up to do," Full said. "And as a result of that, some didn't get to come home."