View Full Version : Bergdahl Walks Free!
This is absolutely the biggest bunch of BS i have ever seen!! Unfriggin believable
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/11/03/bergdahl-awaits-sentence-after-days-emotional-testimony.html
More than eight years after Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl walked off his base in Afghanistan -- and unwittingly into the clutches of the Taliban -- Bergdahl walked out of a North Carolina courtroom a free man on Friday.
Bergdahl, who pleaded guilty to endangering his comrades, was fined, reduced in rank to E1 and dishonorably discharged -- but he received no prison time.
As part of the sentence, Bergdahl will forfeit his pay of $1000 per month for ten months.
Bergdahl was shaking and appeared emotional as the verdict was quickly read.
Doc Safari
11-03-17, 10:56
YOU HAVE GOT TO BE EFFING KIDDING ME.
If ANYBODY who ever put on a set of fatigues deserved to stand in front of a FIRING SQUAD, it was THIS worthless little oxygen thief.
How many valiant heroes died or were severely injured trying to locate and rescue this piece of SHIT?
Deserting your unit and going over to the enemy is pretty much the worst thing I can think of that a soldier can do to betray his country.
What a bunch of pussies in our justice system that would allow this fetid excuse for a treasonous corpse to not pay for what he did.
What piece of rotting feces this asshole is.
Since he's such a jihadist-loving punk, I think the only thing he deserves is khazouk!
This country is really beginning to amaze me, and not in a good way. Even the friggin' military. That POS should rot in prison.....20 years MINIMUM.
Read where the prosecution was only asking for 14 years! WTF?????
**** him and everything about him.
This is absolutely the biggest bunch of BS i have ever seen!! Unfriggin believable
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/11/03/bergdahl-awaits-sentence-after-days-emotional-testimony.html
I think that a major reason for the leniency of this sentence may have been the testimony regarding his issues during Coast Guard basic and the resulting discharge which kind of leads folks to believe the Army effed up by allowing him in.
Other than that, I have no opinion.
Doc Safari
11-03-17, 11:05
I think that a major reason for the leniency of this sentence may have been the testimony regarding his issues during Coast Guard basic and the resulting discharge which kind of leads folks to believe the Army effed up by allowing him in.
Other than that, I have no opinion.
I really don't want to attack your post, so don't get me wrong, but I can't excuse the man's actions just because other screw ups may have contributed to it. Sooner or later everyone has to be responsible for their own actions and this expletive-deleted skin job just got a free pass for getting some really loyal American heroes killed looking for his sorry ass.
Sorry, I guess I shouldn't follow this thread. I am so mad I can't see straight. I want to take my AR out to the range and mag dump about a thousand rounds of ammo to feel better.
MAY GOD DAMN HIS ASS TO A BURNING HELL!
Dist. Expert 26
11-03-17, 11:14
I know guys who went to the brig for DUIs where nobody was hurt, but he gets nothing for desertion?
Military justice is dead.
F**k him.
F**k the prosecution team.
F**k the judge.
There you have it. You can abandon your post, desert, give aid and comfort to the enemy and suffer little to no real consequences. This is not the U.S. military I served in. I am ashamed. :(
I really don't want to attack your post, so don't get me wrong, but I can't excuse the man's actions just because other screw ups may have contributed to it. Sooner or later everyone has to be responsible for their own actions and this expletive-deleted skin job just got a free pass for getting some really loyal American heroes killed looking for his sorry ass.
Sorry, I guess I shouldn't follow this thread. I am so mad I can't see straight. I want to take my AR out to the range and mag dump about a thousand rounds of ammo to feel better.
MAY GOD DAMN HIS ASS TO A BURNING HELL!
Doc,
While he did desert his post, I don't believe that he deserted it in order to aid the enemy.
I've been in the service, don't know if you have. The thing that I know that Bergdahl has in common with me and other vets is he sacked up and joined. I joined the Marines in 1972 and stayed in, active and reserve until May 2001. During that time I served with guys that were morons, but they were Marines or Soldiers. If one of them wondered off, I would have gone looking for them just as I would have any other Marine or Soldier.
So yeah, while I think that if I had done what Begdahl did, I should be facing serious jail time, the fact that a moron, who probably shouldn't have been allowed to join, gets off with 5 years as a boy toy to the Taliban doesn't really anger me. I can see why that sentence was levied.
Just another sign of the times it appears. :shout:
He purposefully abandoned his OP in the middle of the night with the intent to join the Taliban.
We had to sign NDAs about Bergdahl immediately upon landing at Fort Richardson when we redeployed. There is a lot to this that never made it to the news.
The second and third order effects from his desertion go far beyond good men being injured and killed.
What a steaming pile of crap!
Now I can see a transgender snowflake abandoning "its" post and claiming "it" did it to focus awareness of transgenders in the mil.
UCMJ = Uniform Code of Moronic Justice. What a freaking mockery.
GD that pisses me off.
Takes a lot to pull me out of lurking and this did it.
FromMyColdDeadHand
11-03-17, 11:50
So between Bergdhal and Manning, what does it take to do serious time when you break the rules in the military? I don’t know how it works, but at least give him 10 years and then commute it or something. I understand the visual of freeing a guy from the Taliban and then putting him in prison.
On a bigger note, I really think that the rules and laws around NDAs in govt and the private sector need to be examined. Too much stuff is being swept under the rug because of NDAs. They are a main driver behind the protection of the sexual predators in Hollywood and many provisions are illegal or not legally enforceable but the financial ruin would be a Phyrric victory. Something that was meant to keep trade secrets and business information secure has really been morphed into a shield that the rich and powerful can use to do what they want in the shadows.
Out of curiosity, I’d like to see what kind of punishment someone would get for breaking their Bergdhal NDA? Definately can’t be prison time.
In general, what are the repercussions for breaking those type of NDAs? How do they get you to sign them, since military people are bound not to divulge sensitive info, why are NDAs technically even needed?
Doc,
While he did desert his post, I don't believe that he deserted it in order to aid the enemy.
I've been in the service, don't know if you have. The thing that I know that Bergdahl has in common with me and other vets is he sacked up and joined. I joined the Marines in 1972 and stayed in, active and reserve until May 2001. During that time I served with guys that were morons, but they were Marines or Soldiers. If one of them wondered off, I would have gone looking for them just as I would have any other Marine or Soldier.
So yeah, while I think that if I had done what Begdahl did, I should be facing serious jail time, the fact that a moron, who probably shouldn't have been allowed to join, gets off with 5 years as a boy toy to the Taliban doesn't really anger me. I can see why that sentence was levied.
Only fly in that ointment is that when he deserted he asked some locals which way the Taliban were and they pointed a certain direction and off he went. He went looking for them! He may not have gotten the welcome he expected (and I have my doubts about his tales during his captivity) but he most certainly did bug out with the intent of hooking up with them.
He purposefully abandoned his OP in the middle of the night with the intent to join the Taliban.
We had to sign NDAs about Bergdahl immediately upon landing at Fort Richardson when we redeployed. There is a lot to this that never made it to the news.
The second and third order effects from his desertion go far beyond good men being injured and killed.
Yes, heard that too. Something about our tactics or a certain way we searched vehicles (or similar) that the Taliban suddenly began circumventing. Hmmm.....
So between Bergdhal and Manning, what does it take to do serious time when you break the rules in the military? I don’t know how it works, but at least give him 10 years and then commute it or something. I understand the visual of freeing a guy from the Taliban and then putting him in prison.
On a bigger note, I really think that the rules and laws around NDAs in govt and the private sector need to be examined. Too much stuff is being swept under the rug because of NDAs. They are a main driver behind the protection of the sexual predators in Hollywood and many provisions are illegal or not legally enforceable but the financial ruin would be a Phyrric victory. Something that was meant to keep trade secrets and business information secure has really been morphed into a shield that the rich and powerful can use to do what they want in the shadows.
Out of curiosity, I’d like to see what kind of punishment someone would get for breaking their Bergdhal NDA? Definately can’t be prison time.
In general, what are the repercussions for breaking those type of NDAs? How do they get you to sign them, since military people are bound not to divulge sensitive info, why are NDAs technically even needed?
Oh no, in the Bizzaro World we live in THAT guy would be the one going to Leavenworth instead of that traitorous POS!
FromMyColdDeadHand
11-03-17, 12:05
Yes, heard that too. Something about our tactics or a certain way we searched vehicles (or similar) that the Taliban suddenly began circumventing. Hmmm.....
Did he sign an NDA before escaping to the Taliban?
Yes, heard that too. Something about our tactics or a certain way we searched vehicles (or similar) that the Taliban suddenly began circumventing. Hmmm.....
There were a lot of targets laid on that were scrapped for those units to assist in the search.
There's no way to quantify how many of those bomb makers and Taliban leadership we could have killed/captured had resources not been tied up on him.
Averageman
11-03-17, 12:05
Just in comparison nearly everyone involved in Abu Ghraib received a much stiffer sentence.
Not to condone torture, but in the relative comparison of bringing shame upon the military, I would rate these guy as equal in their crimes.
I'm very surprised and disappointed.
Did he sign an NDA before escaping to the Taliban?
Yeah, it's called an "Oath of Enlistment".
Just in comparison nearly everyone involved in Abu Ghraib received a much stiffer sentence.
Not to condone torture, but in the relative comparison of bringing shame upon the military, I would rate these guy as equal in their crimes.
I'm very surprised and disappointed.
Didn't DoD lay it on thick about how many troops would be put in harms way because of what the Abu Ghraib bunch did to get those sentences? But we have actual deaths due to what Bergdhal did and they aren't? Double standard much? :(
Only fly in that ointment is that when he deserted he asked some locals which way the Taliban were and they pointed a certain direction and off he went. He went looking for them! He may not have gotten the welcome he expected (and I have my doubts about his tales during his captivity) but he most certainly did bug out with the intent of hooking up with them.
Thanks for that info.
Coal Dragger
11-03-17, 12:28
Hopefully the military judge, and the prosecutor can be fired by POTUS directly for this injustice.
I am beyond my ability to understand anything anymore. Both my countries are so lost, it is beyond belief.
Just to make everyone not feel so alone. This week Israel blew up a tunnel coming out of Gaza into Israel and they killed some terrorist. The IDF apologized for killing the terrorist, they only wanted to blow up the tunnel. We also sent a soldier to prison for following the ROE when he killed a wounded terrorist.
I feel lost in both places, I just would love to find a normal country to live in. But I think we have outlived normal.
titsonritz
11-03-17, 13:18
Just another sign of the times it appears. :shout:
48376
I am beyond my ability to understand anything anymore. Both my countries are so lost, it is beyond belief.
Just to make everyone not feel so alone. This week Israel blew up a tunnel coming out of Gaza into Israel and they killed some terrorist. The IDF apologized for killing the terrorist, they only wanted to blow up the tunnel. We also sent a soldier to prison for following the ROE when he killed a wounded terrorist.
I feel lost in both places, I just would love to find a normal country to live in. But I think we have outlived normal.
We are spiraling down the shitter for sure. It is off the charts depressing, if I was the suicidal type I think I'd blow brains out and not over this festering anal sore of a deserter, **** him.
dwhitehorne
11-03-17, 14:05
So much for bringing in troops that were injured during the search for him to testify not to mention the ones that dies. What a slap in the face to those that sacrificed it all. Pretty damn sad. David
I don't wish that guy any bad luck, but I hope he gets hit with a car.
He will have a target on his back for sure. Sad part though is that he is going to become a hero to the left! A book and or a movie or documentary to celebrate what he did and went through. Absolutely disgusting.
Outlander Systems
11-03-17, 14:27
Just to clarify, when you say, "we" you mean you personally, and your unit, actually were hunting for this scum**** on the ground.
There were a lot of targets laid on that were scrapped for those units to assist in the search.
There's no way to quantify how many of those bomb makers and Taliban leadership we could have killed/captured had resources not been tied up on him.
platoonDaddy
11-03-17, 14:31
dang, Trump is right on, Total Disgrace! Tonight, I am sure the judge knows his career is OVER (at least, I am hoping that is what happens)!
Just to clarify, when you say, "we" you mean you personally, and your unit, actually were hunting for this scum**** on the ground.
Yes, and a shitload of other units, too.
Also, at least two other dudes I know of on M4C were attached to 4/25 then.
Any info on the judge, Col. Nance?
I'm thinking a tour in Afghanistan should be in his near future, like orders cut tomorrow. I don't think we occupy little COP's anymore, do we? Too bad as that would be a great assignment for that shithead. Yeah, a colonel personally in charge of a COP on some Godforsaken hillside or valley.
Coal Dragger
11-03-17, 15:50
I wonder if we could find a billboard in Bergdahl’s home town and pool some money to put his picture on it with the word “Traitor” emblazoned on it?
“Welcome to Sun Valley, Idaho home of Traitor Bowe Bergdahl.”
I wonder if we could find a billboard in Bergdahl’s home town and pool some money to put his picture on it with the word “Traitor” emblazoned on it?
“Welcome to Sun Valley, Idaho home of Traitor Bowe Bergdahl.”I'll contribute, I'll even attend the unveiling
Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk
Coal Dragger
11-03-17, 16:37
The key would be making sure his coward ass would see it frequently.
Averageman
11-03-17, 17:02
I spoke to someone today who told me about 10 grams of weed being enough to get a Soldier in the 1980's 20 months in Leavenworth.
The Army (perhaps the entire DOD) better find itself again and start some serious rebuilding. We're still at war and likely to stay at war for another decade unless some things change geopolitically.
I'm reminded of the rebuilding that took place in the late 1970's through the 1980's that seems to have peaked around the time of Desert Storm/Desert Shield.
We're screwed if we don't.
Coal Dragger
11-03-17, 17:08
To start rebuilding the JAG corps I'd suggest that all the current officers are cashiered out as soon as suitable replacements can be found, and that a new rule is instituted stating that in order to be a JAG officer that the individual must have held no less than a company level command in a combat arms unit prior to entering the Judge Advocate General corps. No more becoming a lawyer for the Army as a career right out of college.
To start rebuilding the JAG corps I'd suggest that all the current officers are cashiered out as soon as suitable replacements can be found, and that a new rule is instituted stating that in order to be a JAG officer that the individual must have held no less than a company level command in a combat arms unit prior to entering the Judge Advocate General corps. No more becoming a lawyer for the Army as a career right out of college.
Good idea. IOBC/Ranger school (the usual Infantry officer pipeline), platoon command, followed by XO and company command. Then and only then can you switch to JAG as a seasoned captain.
I'm really, really pissed about this one. This is a gigantic **** YOU to all of us who served honorably. This Colonel needs to be retired and very quickly.
We gave up 5 murdering animals to get this asshole back, lost 6 good men and one good dog that served more honorably than him, with more wounded.
He should have faced a firing squad as he did all of this in what is technically a war zone.
I have no words left to describe my anger.
SeriousStudent
11-03-17, 18:51
I am not sure who I have more contempt for, Bergdahl or the judge.
And I am capable of a great deal of contempt. Huge, giant supertankers full of it. I have, in fact, been referred to as the Strategic Contempt Reserve by coworkers.
Dist. Expert 26
11-03-17, 19:17
I honestly think he'll wind up killing himself.
Everyone with a tv or cell phone knows about this. He'll never get a job or amount to anything more than the POS he is now. He doesn't have a compelling story like Snowden, obviously isn't willing to cut his balls off like Manning did, and he'll spend the rest of his life looking over his shoulder for someone seeking revenge. Suicide would be the easy way out, and he is a coward of the highest order.
Maybe that's just wishful thinking though.
I am not sure who I have more contempt for, Bergdahl or the judge.
And I am capable of a great deal of contempt. Huge, giant supertankers full of it. I have, in fact, been referred to as the Strategic Contempt Reserve by coworkers.
I have an idea: why don't both Bergdahl and Nance occupy a little two-man LP/OP (without a platoon or company behind them) out in, say, the Korengal and let us know if there's a threat. What, you can't raise comms? Oh darn.
A story for our times; and it has the stench of evil to it.
I honestly think he'll wind up killing himself.
Everyone with a tv or cell phone knows about this. He'll never get a job or amount to anything more than the POS he is now. He doesn't have a compelling story like Snowden, obviously isn't willing to cut his balls off like Manning did, and he'll spend the rest of his life looking over his shoulder for someone seeking revenge. Suicide would be the easy way out, and he is a coward of the highest order.
Maybe that's just wishful thinking though.
More likely he will become transgendered and get his own reality tv show before anything bad actually happens to him.
Dist. Expert 26
11-03-17, 21:27
More likely he will become transgendered and get his own reality tv show before anything bad actually happens to him.
Gender reassignment surgery and hormones = $$$$$
Nah, he'll kill himself or someone will do it for him. Positive thoughts here.
I am not sure who I have more contempt for, Bergdahl or the judge.
Thanks for pointing that out, I failed to include the judge getting hit by a car as well. Make it a trash truck, that would be more appropriate.
This is a gigantic **** YOU to all of us who served honorably.
Non veterans especially need to hear how much this disrespects all of our service. It is not easy, but every day (or 0230) we woke up and laced up our boots, no matter how bad the suck was.
Non veterans especially need to hear how much this disrespects all of our service. It is not easy, but every day (or 0230) we woke up and laced up our boots, no matter how bad the suck was.
In my initial post I stated why I thought the judge handed out the sentence he did.
It wouldn't have bothered me in the least if they had given him 14 years, as the prosecution offered. Likewise I'm not losing sleep over the fact that the judge thought that Bergdahl's five years of patty-cake with his captors was punishment enough.
I completely understand the vehemence from the veterans, especially the veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan. But, such vehemence from mentally and physically qualified folks who chose not to serve kind of presses my button.
Because, you see, the reason Bergdahl was accepted for enlistment into the Army, was because not enough qualified people were rushing to enlist. They had something else to do.
Meanwhile, Bergdahl volunteers for the Coast Guard, apparently has a breakdown, complete with self-induced injuries and is found unsuitable. He then volunteers again, this time for the Army, and is accepted, because, you know the super patriots are staying at home making America great in their own way, and the Army needs mentally unstable low intellect recruits to fill its ranks.
So he volunteered twice, some of us never once, for nothing.
None of this excuses what he did, but his mental deficiencies, and the fact that he was demonstrably ill-suited for military service, yet allowed to enlist, obviously, were considered mitigating circumstances.
Like I said, I'm not losing sleep over this one way or another, too bad some of us are.
YOU HAVE GOT TO BE EFFING KIDDING ME.
If ANYBODY who ever put on a set of fatigues deserved to stand in front of a FIRING SQUAD, it was THIS worthless little oxygen thief.
How many valiant heroes died or were severely injured trying to locate and rescue this piece of SHIT?
Deserting your unit and going over to the enemy is pretty much the worst thing I can think of that a soldier can do to betray his country.
What a bunch of pussies in our justice system that would allow this fetid excuse for a treasonous corpse to not pay for what he did.
What piece of rotting feces this asshole is.
Since he's such a jihadist-loving punk, I think the only thing he deserves is khazouk!
Just when I thought this was a family friendly forum!
Is this the guy we traded like 3 terrorist from GITMO for? Or was that the tranny Manning?
One of, if not the primary, purpose of the Military Justice system is to enforce good order and discipline. Punishment can be shockingly harsh for fairly minor crimes, and even what are considered crimes would shock civilians. The purpose being more to promote good order and discipline, than to be "fair" to the individual.
Being captured is a possibility for anyone serving. It is not a punishment.
SeriousStudent
11-04-17, 10:50
One of, if not the primary, purpose of the Military Justice system is to enforce good order and discipline. Punishment can be shockingly harsh for fairly minor crimes, and even what are considered crimes would shock civilians. The purpose being more to promote good order and discipline, than to be "fair" to the individual.
Being captured is a possibility for anyone serving. It is not a punishment.
Very well said.
Averageman
11-04-17, 11:31
A lot of people went way out on a limb trying to recover this guy from a self induced F'ed up situation and not all of them are still around for the final story.
That this is an insult to the Military is a given, but more than that, it is an insult to the Servicemen who died or suffered wounds and a terrible blow to good order and discipline within every branch.
Bergdahl's B.S. will now go down in the foot notes of Military justice and may well be used later as a litmus test for others who become traitors.
My only wish is that this guy gets to live the rest of his life watching his six everywhere he goes. That he is occasionally recognized and publicly shamed in front of his family and on more than one occasion he takes a public ass kicking.
Some dark and cold night he might be pumping gas with his back turned and someone might apply the justice that this court failed to apply.
Either way, there is no justice with this scumbag walking around in a free world.
Is this the guy we traded like 3 terrorist from GITMO for? Or was that the tranny Manning?
It was 5.
platoonDaddy
11-04-17, 14:47
Very interesting interview with Rob O'Neill
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4S4JntA7qw
This whole thing is a joke. Apparently the guy freak during Coast Guard basic then gets accepted by the Army and makes E5. I can see a retard getting through recruitment and basic to make numbers, but come on he is wearing E5 stripes. I didn’t reallyalize we were handing out stripes like candy. WTF?!
As fit the judge. His career need to be over. If he can’t be fired his ass needs to be parked in some obscure shithole presiding over DUI cases till he sees the light and ejects. Probably another Obama rising star. I certainly hope that if he is ever in a situation that requires justice to be dispensed, he gets the same treatment he gave.
He was captured as an E-3.
He was promoted during his tenure at Chez Haqqani.
One of, if not the primary, purpose of the Military Justice system is to enforce good order and discipline. Punishment can be shockingly harsh for fairly minor crimes, and even what are considered crimes would shock civilians. The purpose being more to promote good order and discipline, than to be "fair" to the individual.
Being captured is a possibility for anyone serving. It is not a punishment.
Not trying to correct you but he wasn't "captured" per se, he walked off (deserted) looking for the Taliban, only it didn't turn out to be the honeymoon he expected it to be.
He was captured as an E-3.
He was promoted during his tenure at Chez Haqqani.
For what. I wasn’t aware that dereliction of duty was on the punch list for 2 promotions. They knew this asshat walked off base and left his team mates to join the enemy. Why does he get promotions. I’d get it if he was nabbed or captured during action. Not for this though. Maybe I’m jaded by my respect for the NCO corps to see those stripes on that POS-es uniform. It’s bad enough he wears a uniform at all.
Hope he suck starts a 12Ga ASAFP.
His official status was as a POW and he was promoted at a similar rate to his peer group based on time in service/time in grade.
For what. I wasn’t aware that dereliction of duty was on the punch list for 2 promotions. They knew this asshat walked off base and left his team mates to join the enemy. Why does he get promotions. I’d get it if he was nabbed or captured during action. Not for this though. Maybe I’m jaded by my respect for the NCO corps to see those stripes on that POS-es uniform. It’s bad enough he wears a uniform at all.
Hope he suck starts a 12Ga ASAFP.
As I understand, once he hit prisoner status, all of his promotions would be effective based on time in grade. I believe they did that to the VN POW's. Regarding that he walked off, I think they were bending over backwards to be impartial - innocent until proven guilty -so as to not give someone the chance to soil the case with allegations of unfairness. Once he was brought back and they decided to try him, he wore the rank until adjudicated. I believe he is smooth-sleeved at this point while they process him out.
The Infantry cord makes a handy garrote.
They shot Slovik for far less.
He'll probably move to Europe, change his name, and get a book deal.
I doubt he will lose any sleep.
Dist. Expert 26
11-05-17, 00:27
They shot Slovik for far less.
He'll probably move to Europe, change his name, and get a book deal.
I doubt he will lose any sleep.
If any European countries will grant him entrance. Manning is banned from Canada for being a traitor, he'll likely receive the same treatment.
As far as a book deal I already thought of a perfect title- "Man Love Thursday- The Bowe Bergdahl Story"
They shot Slovik for far less.
He'll probably move to Europe, change his name, and get a book deal.
I doubt he will lose any sleep.
Fly - You caused me to educated myself. I've read several online stories about Slovik. I'll have to take the nay side in the debate on Slovik v. Bergdahl.
Slovik and Bergdahl have one thing in common - they were both allowed into the Army during a time of reduced standards for enlistment. In Bergdahl's case he volunteered. From what I read Slovik was enjoying the 4F classification that his previous convictions gave him.
As I understand Slovik deserted once, hung with the Canadian Army for a while, filling the role of a scavenger, and then returned to his unit. This is from Wiki:
The day following his return to the Company, Slovik informed his company commander, Captain Ralph Grotte, that he was "too scared" to serve in a front-line rifle company and asked to be reassigned to a rear area unit. He told Grotte that he would run away if he were assigned to a rifle unit, and asked his captain if that would constitute desertion. Grotte confirmed that it would. He refused Slovik's request for reassignment and sent him to a rifle platoon.
The next day, October 9, Slovik deserted from his infantry unit. His friend, John Tankey, caught up with him and attempted to persuade him to stay, but Slovik's only comment was that his "mind was made up". Slovik walked several miles to the rear and approached an enlisted cook at a headquarters detachment, presenting him with a note which stated:
I, Pvt. Eddie D. Slovik, 36896415, confess to the desertion of the United States Army. At the time of my desertion we were in Albuff in France. I came to Albuff as a replacement. They were shelling the town and we were told to dig in for the night. The following morning they were shelling us again. I was so scared, nerves and trembling, that at the time the other replacements moved out, I couldn’t move. I stayed there in my fox hole till it was quiet and I was able to move. I then walked into town. Not seeing any of our troops, so I stayed over night at a French hospital. The next morning I turned myself over to the Canadian Provost Corp. After being with them six weeks I was turned over to American M.P. They turned me loose. I told my commanding officer my story. I said that if I had to go out there again I'd run away. He said there was nothing he could do for me so I ran away again AND I'LL RUN AWAY AGAIN IF I HAVE TO GO OUT THERE.
— Signed Pvt. Eddie D. Slovik A.S.N. 36896415[4]
Three strikes and your out:
Strike One: The cook summoned his company commander and an MP, who read the note and urged Slovik to destroy it before he was taken into custody, which Slovik refused.
Strike Two: He was brought before Lieutenant Colonel Ross Henbest, who again offered him the opportunity to tear up the note, return to his unit, and face no further charges. After Slovik again refused, Henbest ordered Slovik to write another note on the back of the first one stating that he fully understood the legal consequences of deliberately incriminating himself with the note and that it would be used as evidence against him in a court martial.
Strike Three: Slovik was taken into custody and confined to the division stockade. The divisional judge advocate, Lieutenant Colonel Henry Sommer, offered Slovik a third and final opportunity to rejoin his unit in exchange for the charges against him being suspended. He also offered to transfer Slovik to a different infantry regiment where no one would know of his past and he could start with a "clean slate". Slovik, still convinced that he would face only jail time (which he had already experienced and considered far more tolerable than combat) declined these offers, saying, "I've made up my mind. I'll take my court martial."
To me this is substantially worse than Bergdahl did.
Slovik was trying to game the system. He said he was scared and wasn't cut out for combat. Well how many folks actually are? People were dying all around him, he decided he'd rather sit the war out in jail and then bet on his sentence being commuted to time served. He bet wrong.
I don't know for sure, but I didn't see this 'calculation' in Bergdahl's case.
JMO and I'm often wrong.
Well.....here's where I am a bleeding heart. Slovik had a life and was living straight and narrow. His 4F should have stood. Putting someone out who really isnt willing to fight is kind of stupid. IIRC Slovik offered to be a cook or any other non combat role. Slovik was not exactly Phi Beta Kappa and an excellent case against conscription.
Bergdahl, however, VOLUNTEERED. Nobody asked him to sign up. He was more than free to stay home, name himself Moonbeam, and get high all day.
There are a lot of people who get turned away from military service for some injury or some obscure, unbeknownst congenital ailment who would otherwise have been good soldiers. People always cite the SF guy with the pegleg and claim anything can be waivered. Nope. Folks try it all because they want to be soldiers. Well, not everyone gets in. That's life.
But Bergdahl DID get in, nobody asked him to join, and his actions led to immeasurable loss of life and security risks.
In one case you got a guy who says he doesnt want to fight and is being forced into an Army he doesnt want to be a part of who is only trying to avoid combat.
"Pussy" he might well be but he is up front with it and not telling Germans sensitive info.
The other guy had every chance to back out, seek a counselor, seek a chaplain, sit on his hands and take up space. His emails were indicative of someone plotting to pull a stunt. He could have easily gone to top and said "I just plain quit" And he might have done time but would have affected no one but himself. Might have even just gotten Bad Conduct if not merely Other Than Honorable. But no. He went out, actively sought terrorist comfort, relayed intel and technique, caused several US soldiers to die or get permanently maimed, and set in motion the release of five honchos.
He's out a few grand and has a dishonorable discharge which means nothing to him and he is a free man while others are dead or in a wheelchair.
Sorry, but we can split hairs over technicalities but I can relate to a guy being honest about not wanting to be forced to fight vs a guy willingly doing everything wrong in a volunteer army.
But thats just me.
If any European countries will grant him entrance. Manning is banned from Canada for being a traitor, he'll likely receive the same treatment.
As far as a book deal I already thought of a perfect title- "Man Love Thursday- The Bowe Bergdahl Story"Bowel Bergdahl: From Desertion To Just Desserts (fiction aisle)
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Averageman
11-05-17, 08:30
His official status was as a POW and he was promoted at a similar rate to his peer group based on time in service/time in grade.
Lemme tell you a really sad secret;
The Army is promoting Soldiers to Sergeant, E-5 on a time served basis now. Yeah, as long as they don't get in any trouble as long as they don't receive any bad counseling statements, they get promoted.
So think about that for a minute; You don't have to excel, as a matter of fact any attempt to be a "Hard Charger" only sets you up to be a target. These guys making Sergeant now are nothing like the guys I served with and it is kind of sad.
That Bergdahl got promoted while in "captivity" is likely a product of this system and the inability to pin any charges on him as long as he was in "captivity".
Lemme tell you a really sad secret;
The Army is promoting Soldiers to Sergeant, E-5 on a time served basis now. Yeah, as long as they don't get in any trouble as long as they don't receive any bad counseling statements, they get promoted.
So think about that for a minute; You don't have to excel, as a matter of fact any attempt to be a "Hard Charger" only sets you up to be a target. These guys making Sergeant now are nothing like the guys I served with and it is kind of sad.
That Bergdahl got promoted while in "captivity" is likely a product of this system and the inability to pin any charges on him as long as he was in "captivity".
Unfortunately, I am all too familiar with this. When the list came down to the 1SGs from S-1 every month for who was eligible for promotion to SGT, we had to have counseling statements done for every Soldier on the list who we did not deem ready for promotion.
Regardless of duty position, if a Soldier was on that list and did not have non-promotable counselings in their packet, they would automatically be submitted to HRC as promotable and would wait to make points.
I used to sit down with the E4s in my Squad and counsel them at the end of each month on why they were not being considered for promotion. In addition to the monthly performance counseling they would get from their TL, I would conduct my own and lay out what they're performing well in, what they need to improve on, demonstrated and potential capability, and expectations for them within the Squad. I actually really enjoyed being able to sit and talk man to man with my Soldiers to help guide them into the NCO Corps. I also used to really take the -1 for NCOERs seriously and used it as the guideline for my rating on their annuals. If you excelled through the year, as your NCOER counselings will document, you'd get a 1. It also gave me supporting documentation when the 1SG/CSM would flip his shit about me rating a SGT as a 2 or 3 and being able to spell it out in writing why they didn't rate a 1.
But unfortunately, a few Squad Leaders slacked off on this and some shitbirds pinned SGT because of it. Many SLs were doing the right thing, but a few slipped through the cracks. Rarely, but it did happen.
I don't know exactly when that changed, but I started doing those counselings while on my 2014 deployment. When I pinned SGT/SSG, you went to the board for promotable status.
Averageman
11-05-17, 10:58
I've been retired now almost as long as I was actually in Military service. My knowledge of the inner workings and the specific details is sketchy at best. On that note though I work with these guys everyday.
Some of the things I've noticed are that thee are still some badasses out there, but the numbers seem to be very different than I remember them. These guys might be out numbered 30 to 1.
There is little motivation to learn more about the systems you work with. Ironically there is a lot of ingrained lack of desire to meet the standard and that seems to come from the top down.
And that is because..
No one inspects or questions these guys knowledge. You can essentially be as stupid as you would like to be and well, that's okay. "My shit is broke" seems to take place of any personal responsibility or a desire to pick up the TM and do some PMCS or Crew Level Troubleshooting.
It's just sad because this stuff doesn't happen overnight, it happens in a slow degradation of holding up the standards. Now you can say, "well a decade and a half of deployments caused this" and "We take it easy on them when they aren't deployed".
The realization is you always end up dancing with the girl you brought to the prom. If you don't maintain your equipment and train your troops in garrison, your troops wont know better and your shit wont work when you deploy.
So how does this relate to Bergdahl and shit birds like him?
It's all about climate control;
Maintaining a standard that rewards the best and brightest also prevents turds like Bergdahl from slipping through the cracks. If you apply enough heat to the forge
You will have some hardened steel and the slag will fall away.
This promotion system and the example of Bergdahls lack of punishment will only insure this reoccurs.
Sorry, but we can split hairs over technicalities but I can relate to a guy being honest about not wanting to be forced to fight vs a guy willingly doing everything wrong in a volunteer army.
But thats just me.
I see where your coming from. Just spitballing on the internet. As I said, either way on Bergdahl, wouldn't have caused me loss of sleep.
In my initial post I stated why I thought the judge handed out the sentence he did.
It wouldn't have bothered me in the least if they had given him 14 years, as the prosecution offered. Likewise I'm not losing sleep over the fact that the judge thought that Bergdahl's five years of patty-cake with his captors was punishment enough.
I completely understand the vehemence from the veterans, especially the veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan. But, such vehemence from mentally and physically qualified folks who chose not to serve kind of presses my button.
Because, you see, the reason Bergdahl was accepted for enlistment into the Army, was because not enough qualified people were rushing to enlist. They had something else to do.
Meanwhile, Bergdahl volunteers for the Coast Guard, apparently has a breakdown, complete with self-induced injuries and is found unsuitable. He then volunteers again, this time for the Army, and is accepted, because, you know the super patriots are staying at home making America great in their own way, and the Army needs mentally unstable low intellect recruits to fill its ranks.
So he volunteered twice, some of us never once, for nothing.
None of this excuses what he did, but his mental deficiencies, and the fact that he was demonstrably ill-suited for military service, yet allowed to enlist, obviously, were considered mitigating circumstances.
Like I said, I'm not losing sleep over this one way or another, too bad some of us are.
You're entitled to feel the way you do, but we're equally entitled to feel differently. I for one would not recommend entering the service now, except for those with little to no other choices to improve their less than ideal lot in life. This Bergdahl snafu is yet another in a LONG line of poor DoD decisions that make me feel this way. I volunteered to serve in the Corps after a horrific event (Beirut bombing) and volunteered again to serve in the Gulf (to the point of extending my contract by 6 months). So I've earned my position and it's as valid as yours. It is my opinion that this sentence is detrimental to the good order and discipline necessary in a combat situation.
Averageman
11-06-17, 11:43
You're entitled to feel the way you do, but we're equally entitled to feel differently. I for one would not recommend entering the service now, except for those with little to no other choices to improve their less than ideal lot in life. This Bergdahl snafu is yet another in a LONG line of poor DoD decisions that make me feel this way. I volunteered to serve in the Corps after a horrific event (Beirut bombing) and volunteered again to serve in the Gulf (to the point of extending my contract by 6 months). So I've earned my position and it's as valid as yours. It is my opinion that this sentence is detrimental to the good order and discipline necessary in a combat situation.
If good Men don't fix it and if they don't do it quickly enough we may well endanger our National Security.
alvincullumyork
11-06-17, 14:11
Is there any proof that this douche was looking to join the Taliban? All I’ve ever heard or read was that he was trying to make it to another base to complain about his current command.
As someone else said anyone can be captured, it’s not punishment for his actions.
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Is there any proof that this douche was looking to join the Taliban? All I’ve ever heard or read was that he was trying to make it to another base to complain about his current command.
As someone else said anyone can be captured, it’s not punishment for his actions.
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That's the story his camp was trying to sell. Others say he was sympathetic to the Taliban and looking to find them.
Is there any proof that this douche was looking to join the Taliban? All I’ve ever heard or read was that he was trying to make it to another base to complain about his current command.
As someone else said anyone can be captured, it’s not punishment for his actions.
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You'll just have to choose whether you believe the word of the guys who were on the ground in his unit when the DUSTWUN went out and who were updated on those first 24 hrs worth of LLVI where a Taliban spotter was questioning whether the American looking for the Taliban was a trap.
Or not.
I was called a liar for years about him going AWOL by people with no skin in this game. Believe what you want.
Is there any proof that this douche was looking to join the Taliban? All I’ve ever heard or read was that he was trying to make it to another base to complain about his current command.
As someone else said anyone can be captured, it’s not punishment for his actions.
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I think there were witnesses (locals) that claimed he asked which way to Taliban and when told headed that way instead of away.
If he thought his unit was full of poop he could have made a formal complaint to his superiors on base. If that didn’t work he could have went further up the chain. That how stuff works. You don’t go: Hmmmm my unit sux so I’m going to hump it to the next FOB through enemy territory and file a complaint.
The only thing I will agree on with the defense, is that Bergdahl was a **** up that should NEVER have been allowed through MEPS or certainly it through BASIC. I’m still confused as to how he got booted from USCC and big green didn’t know he was a looser.
Doc Safari
11-06-17, 15:25
Bergdog is cut from the same material as the Sutherland Springs shooter in my book.
I think there were witnesses (locals) that claimed he asked which way to Taliban and when told headed that way instead of away.
If he thought his unit was full of poop he could have made a formal complaint to his superiors on base. If that didn’t work he could have went further up the chain. That how stuff works. You don’t go: Hmmmm my unit sux so I’m going to hump it to the next FOB through enemy territory and file a complaint.
The only thing I will agree on with the defense, is that Bergdahl was a **** up that should NEVER have been allowed through MEPS or certainly it through BASIC. I’m still confused as to how he got booted from USCC and big green didn’t know he was a looser.
Big Green didn't know they had an al-Qaeda sympathizer counseling troops at Ft. Hood or a communist sympathizer at West Point, despite being told about both. :(
alvincullumyork
11-06-17, 15:34
You'll just have to choose whether you believe the word of the guys who were on the ground in his unit when the DUSTWUN went out and who were updated on those first 24 hrs worth of LLVI where a Taliban spotter was questioning whether the American looking for the Taliban was a trap.
Or not.
I was called a liar for years about him going AWOL by people with no skin in this game. Believe what you want.
Definitely not calling you a liar just asking for sources.
I think there were witnesses (locals) that claimed he asked which way to Taliban and when told headed that way instead of away.
If he thought his unit was full of poop he could have made a formal complaint to his superiors on base. If that didn’t work he could have went further up the chain. That how stuff works. You don’t go: Hmmmm my unit sux so I’m going to hump it to the next FOB through enemy territory and file a complaint.
The only thing I will agree on with the defense, is that Bergdahl was a **** up that should NEVER have been allowed through MEPS or certainly it through BASIC. I’m still confused as to how he got booted from USCC and big green didn’t know he was a looser.
Totally agree. Even if he was just trying to raise awareness of bad leadership that’s the stupidest way imaginable. I still think he should spend time behind bars no matter what. He deserted his post.
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platoonDaddy
11-09-17, 06:40
holy shit!
Army to decide if Bergdahl is entitled to $300G back pay
Captive soldiers normally receive special compensation worth around $150,000 in addition to hostile-fire pay and their basic pay they accumulated during the captivity. But determining whether Bergdahl should receive the back pay is not as clear-cut.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/11/09/army-to-decide-if-bergdahl-is-entitled-to-300g-back-pay.html
Doesn't a DD and subsequent reduction to E-1 also usually carry the "forfeiture of all pay and privileges" thing with it?
Sweet Jesus, he gets no prison time for his crimes and now he could get paid too? Admit it, we all know the DoD will get this A or B choice answer wrong too.
ABNAK, IIRC they will look at only the time frame when he was in Taliban hands regarding the pay grade he will fall under, not post show trial. The Army wants this to go away as fast as possible. I bet they pay him out for his silence.
If he makes bank for being a traitor to his comrades and deserting his post, I will lose my shit. Seriously, even considering paying this POS for his perfidy is beyond the pale. :nono:
Doc Safari
11-09-17, 12:37
If he makes bank for being a traitor to his comrades and deserting his post, I will lose my shit. Seriously, even considering paying this POS for his perfidy is beyond the pale. :nono:
I agree. If this treasonous goon gets back pay I will be apoplectic. Look at the sky and you will see me go right into orbit I'll be so mad.
This would be no different than the Canadians paying the terrorist millions, except we're not Canadian.....
Pretty much the politicians and government employees are a crime gang that makes the Mexican drug cartels look like a bunch of first year Girl
scouts.
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