Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, center, arrives to the Fort Bragg courtroom facility for a sentencing hearing on Friday, Nov. 3, 2017, on Fort Bragg, N.C.
A military judge’s decision Friday to issue no jail time and a dishonorable discharge for Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl unleashed a wide range of emotions.
Several expressed anger that Bergdahl, 31, didn’t get the punishment they thought he should have, while others expressed understanding that he didn’t deserve more jail time.
Leading the charge of angry reaction was President Donald Trump, who went after the decision by the judge, Army Col. Jeffery R. Nance.
He sentenced Bergdahl to forfeit $10,000 in pay, a reduction in rank to E-1 private and a dishonorable discharge, barring him from receiving any medical or other benefits entitled to most veterans. [Stars & Stripes]
You can read more at the link, but I have always thought that Bergdahl should have at least received the Charles Robert Jenkins punishment. What Jenkins did caused far less risk for US troops because nobody had to search to find him when he defected to North Korea unlike Bergdahl who initiated a massive search which put soldiers lives at risk. Jenkins also spent far more time in captivity than Bergdahl, 39 years compared to Bergdahl’s 5, and yet Jenkins received a month of jail time and Bergdahl received none.
Finally Jenkins was not released in exchange for a group of terrorists like Bergdahl was. Just these facts alone should warrant jail time for Bergdahl if Jenkins received jail time. I wonder if the judge presiding over the case even considered Jenkins past sentence as a precedent before issuing his ruling?
To see things from perhaps what the judge was thinking, there are two reasons to try someone and sentence him or her: One is to punish him for his crime and the other is to deter other Soldiers from committing the same crime. This isn’t like the Private Slovik case when tens of thousands of US Soldiers were deserting in Europe during WWII and Eisenhower approved Slovik’s firing squad to set an example. We have about ten thousand troops in Afghanistan and I don’t think any of them are going to follow Bergdahl’s example and desert. I thought he should get a couple of years confinement, but I am OK with the DD. Hopefully, it won’t be successfully appealed but event the DD could be overturned in part due to Trump’s foolish comments on the case.
JoeC
7 years ago
I have a question.
He got a dishonorable discharge but must forfeit $1000 of Private rank pay for 10 months. So, he must still be in the Army working as a Private for at least 10 months. If he is not being discharged immediately and confinement wasn’t part of the sentence, what kind of assignment and duties could he have that were not considered as additional punishment?
Rock
7 years ago
Bergdahl will probably continue to do what he has been doing at Fort Sam Houston, office work. The retired major (now a GS employee) who was Bergdahl’s supervisor at Fort Sam testified as a defense witness. She told the court that there was less drama with Sergeant Bergdahl on a daily basis than most of the NCOs who also worked in the same office.
Rock
7 years ago
With respect to comparisons with SGT Jenkins who defected to North Korea, as far as I am concerned, what Jenkins did was worse. At the time he defected, Jenkins was a noncommissioned officer leading his men on patrol in the DMZ and he abandoned the men he was leading and responsible for. Bergdahl was not a sergeant when he defected, just a PFC. As an Army Soldier and leader, I have always held NCOs to a higher standard than privates. So I am very comfortable with the fact that SGT Jenkins, an NCO, was punished more severely than Bergdahl. Bergdahl did not earn promotion to sergeant. The Army just made him an NCO after he was captured because of the rules and regulations in effect for missing/captured personnel.
Flyingsword
7 years ago
Disgraceful sentence, no excuse for it. Bergdale should be in prison for the rest of his natural life, no question about it. Who is worse is the pencil neck COL Nance, a disgrace to the Army and the JAG corps.
guitard
7 years ago
Rock – I hear what you’re saying about Jenkins being an NCO and thus you’re OK with him being punished more severely. Here’s another perspective – Jenkins’ defection didn’t lead to anyone getting hurt. Soldiers were injured while searching for Bergdahl. In fact, one soldier is now paralyzed and unable to speak because of injuries he received while searching for Bergdahl.
I had already considered the other perspective you mentioned Guitard and still think Jenkins crime was worse. It is altogether possible that the intelligence gleaned from the DPRK interrogating Jenkins helped them plan attacks on US patrols that became commonplace in the two years after Jenkins defected.
guitard
6 years ago
It is altogether possible that the intelligence gleaned from the DPRK interrogating Jenkins helped them plan attacks on US patrols that became commonplace in the two years after Jenkins defected.
I have to disagree. Jenkins defected in January 1965 – the 1960s “Korean DMZ Conflict” started almost two years later in October 1966.
Not to mention three other US soldiers had already defected in the two and half years prior to Jenkins. So between the patrols that the North conducted on their own in the DMZ, during which time they were able to observe US and ROK patrol TTPs, the North likely didn’t glean any intelligence about patrols from Jenkins that they didn’t already get from the other defectors.
Rock
6 years ago
Two years is a short time in the mindset of the DPRK. They are still living in the 1950s, Guitard. The other defectors were EM, not NCO, like Jenkins.
guitard
6 years ago
The other defectors were EM, not NCO, like Jenkins.
So … you’re trying to say that the junior soldiers didn’t know as much as Jenkins because he was an NCO?
For starters, Jenkins is dumber than a bucket of rocks. He didn’t even finish middle school and enlisted (illegally) when he was 15. Secondly, I went on many patrols in the DMZ back when I was a young soldier. Every guy on a patrol has to know the mission and TTPs inside and out. It’s drilled into your head throughout hours and hours of training. The junior soldiers on patrol with him knew just as much as he did; if not more in some cases.
Rock
6 years ago
My philosophy is different spanks for different ranks. But I believe the higher the rank of the criminal, the more severe the punishment should be, not the other way around. Jenkins should be punished more harshly. Bergdahl is also a unique case in that he never should have been in the Army to begin with. He flunked out of Coast Guard Basic training after 26 days. That should have been a red flag, right there. Being an infantryman in combat is arguably the toughest MOS in the Army. What on earth made his recruiter (and the recruiter’s chain of command) think that a guy who could not last one month in the Coast Guard, could make it as an Army infantryman in a combat zone?
To see things from perhaps what the judge was thinking, there are two reasons to try someone and sentence him or her: One is to punish him for his crime and the other is to deter other Soldiers from committing the same crime. This isn’t like the Private Slovik case when tens of thousands of US Soldiers were deserting in Europe during WWII and Eisenhower approved Slovik’s firing squad to set an example. We have about ten thousand troops in Afghanistan and I don’t think any of them are going to follow Bergdahl’s example and desert. I thought he should get a couple of years confinement, but I am OK with the DD. Hopefully, it won’t be successfully appealed but event the DD could be overturned in part due to Trump’s foolish comments on the case.
I have a question.
He got a dishonorable discharge but must forfeit $1000 of Private rank pay for 10 months. So, he must still be in the Army working as a Private for at least 10 months. If he is not being discharged immediately and confinement wasn’t part of the sentence, what kind of assignment and duties could he have that were not considered as additional punishment?
Bergdahl will probably continue to do what he has been doing at Fort Sam Houston, office work. The retired major (now a GS employee) who was Bergdahl’s supervisor at Fort Sam testified as a defense witness. She told the court that there was less drama with Sergeant Bergdahl on a daily basis than most of the NCOs who also worked in the same office.
With respect to comparisons with SGT Jenkins who defected to North Korea, as far as I am concerned, what Jenkins did was worse. At the time he defected, Jenkins was a noncommissioned officer leading his men on patrol in the DMZ and he abandoned the men he was leading and responsible for. Bergdahl was not a sergeant when he defected, just a PFC. As an Army Soldier and leader, I have always held NCOs to a higher standard than privates. So I am very comfortable with the fact that SGT Jenkins, an NCO, was punished more severely than Bergdahl. Bergdahl did not earn promotion to sergeant. The Army just made him an NCO after he was captured because of the rules and regulations in effect for missing/captured personnel.
Disgraceful sentence, no excuse for it. Bergdale should be in prison for the rest of his natural life, no question about it. Who is worse is the pencil neck COL Nance, a disgrace to the Army and the JAG corps.
Rock – I hear what you’re saying about Jenkins being an NCO and thus you’re OK with him being punished more severely. Here’s another perspective – Jenkins’ defection didn’t lead to anyone getting hurt. Soldiers were injured while searching for Bergdahl. In fact, one soldier is now paralyzed and unable to speak because of injuries he received while searching for Bergdahl.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-defense-bergdahl/army-deserter-bergdahl-apologizes-to-troops-injured-searching-for-him-idUSKBN1CZ0Y9
I had already considered the other perspective you mentioned Guitard and still think Jenkins crime was worse. It is altogether possible that the intelligence gleaned from the DPRK interrogating Jenkins helped them plan attacks on US patrols that became commonplace in the two years after Jenkins defected.
I have to disagree. Jenkins defected in January 1965 – the 1960s “Korean DMZ Conflict” started almost two years later in October 1966.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_DMZ_Conflict_(1966%E2%80%931969)
Not to mention three other US soldiers had already defected in the two and half years prior to Jenkins. So between the patrols that the North conducted on their own in the DMZ, during which time they were able to observe US and ROK patrol TTPs, the North likely didn’t glean any intelligence about patrols from Jenkins that they didn’t already get from the other defectors.
Two years is a short time in the mindset of the DPRK. They are still living in the 1950s, Guitard. The other defectors were EM, not NCO, like Jenkins.
So … you’re trying to say that the junior soldiers didn’t know as much as Jenkins because he was an NCO?
For starters, Jenkins is dumber than a bucket of rocks. He didn’t even finish middle school and enlisted (illegally) when he was 15. Secondly, I went on many patrols in the DMZ back when I was a young soldier. Every guy on a patrol has to know the mission and TTPs inside and out. It’s drilled into your head throughout hours and hours of training. The junior soldiers on patrol with him knew just as much as he did; if not more in some cases.
My philosophy is different spanks for different ranks. But I believe the higher the rank of the criminal, the more severe the punishment should be, not the other way around. Jenkins should be punished more harshly. Bergdahl is also a unique case in that he never should have been in the Army to begin with. He flunked out of Coast Guard Basic training after 26 days. That should have been a red flag, right there. Being an infantryman in combat is arguably the toughest MOS in the Army. What on earth made his recruiter (and the recruiter’s chain of command) think that a guy who could not last one month in the Coast Guard, could make it as an Army infantryman in a combat zone?