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Bergdahl, Back in U.S., Is Treated at Army Medical Center No Ceremony For Bergdahl Upon Return To U.S. Soil
(about 9 hours later)
SAN ANTONIO — Exactly 1,809 days after he was captured by Taliban fighters who kept him in a metal cage for weeks and possibly months during nearly five years in captivity, Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl returned to the United States early Friday, arriving at an Army medical center here in a homecoming dampened by stormy weather and the swirling political controversy over his capture and release. SAN ANTONIO — Exactly 1,809 days after he was captured by Taliban fighters who kept him in a metal cage for weeks and possibly months during nearly five years in captivity, Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl returned to the United States early Friday to a homecoming void of any of his relatives and dampened by a swirling controversy over his capture and release.
Sergeant Bergdahl, 28, America’s lone prisoner of war in the 13-year conflict in Afghanistan, landed before dawn aboard a military transport plane at an airfield adjacent to Lackland Air Force Base and was escorted to a nearby hospital at Brooke Army Medical Center at Fort Sam Houston. He had been recuperating at a military hospital in Germany since he was released from Taliban captivity on May 31, in exchange for five Taliban detainees held at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. He arrived in Texas amid high winds and lightning to begin the next stage of his recovery at the base, where he will undergo therapy and counseling as part of what Army officials call a “reintegration process.” Sergeant Bergdahl, 28, America’s lone prisoner of war in the 13-year conflict in Afghanistan, landed around 1:40 a.m. aboard a military transport plane at an airfield adjacent to Lackland Air Force Base and was escorted to nearby Brooke Army Medical Center at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio.
There was no timeline for that process, but it is likely to last weeks or longer. “We exchanged salutes,” said Maj. Gen. Joseph P. DiSalvo, who is overseeing Sergeant Bergdahl’s recovery as the commanding general of United States Army South, which is based at Fort Sam Houston. “He appeared just like any sergeant would when they see a two-star general — a little bit nervous. But he looked good.”
Even as Sergeant Bergdahl arrived, the Army has started setting in motion a major investigation into the circumstances of his disappearance from his outpost in June 2009. The Army has selected a two-star general with combat experience in Afghanistan to determine whether Sergeant Bergdahl violated rules by apparently walking off his post, three Pentagon officials said. Sergeant Bergdahl had been recuperating at a military hospital in Germany since he was released from Taliban captivity on May 31, in exchange for five Taliban detainees held at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. He arrived in Texas to begin the next stage of his recovery at Fort Sam Houston, where he will undergo therapy and counseling as part of what Army officials call a “reintegration process.”
The officials did not disclose the general’s name and said he did not serve in Afghanistan at the same time as Sergeant Bergdahl. The officer is expected to receive initial briefings in Washington next week, and then assemble a small staff in San Antonio and begin regular debriefings of Sergeant Bergdahl, officials said. There was no timeline for that process, but it is likely to last weeks or longer. At a news conference at the base golf course on Friday, military officials involved in Sergeant Bergdahl’s treatment said he was in a hospital room at the Brooke Army Medical Center without access to television, part of the slow pace of reintroducing normal, stable routines and activities into his life. “Over all, we’re pleased with his physical state,” said Col. Ronald N. Wool, a military doctor overseeing Sergeant Bergdahl’s medical care.
Army officials have stressed that Sergeant Bergdahl would be given “minimal physical and emotional complications” during reintegration, and the military’s handling of his arrival — quietly slipping him onto the base far from a cluster of TV cameras, photographers and reporters who gathered outside a main gate — seemed intended to carry out that goal. He has had no direct contact with his parents and he would not be speaking to the media at a news conference planned for later Friday. His treatment at Brooke Army Medical Center is expected to end with a reunion with his parents, but so far, Sergeant Bergdahl has declined to have any direct communication with his parents or other family members, military officials said. Sergeant Bergdahl walked into the hospital and has been eating, although he has started off with a bland diet. “Peanut butter is a favorite,” Colonel Wool said.
He did, however, speak by telephone this week to a close friend, according to the American official briefed on his condition. The friend, a woman named Kim, is the same person to whom Sergeant Bergdahl sent a series of emails before his disappearance, the official said. In the emails, which were first reported by The Washington Post, Sergeant Bergdahl alludes to “plans” he was working on — a possible foreshadowing of events to come. Even as Sergeant Bergdahl arrived, the Army set in motion an investigation into the circumstances of his disappearance from his outpost in June 2009. The Army has selected a two-star general with combat experience in Afghanistan to determine whether Sergeant Bergdahl violated rules by apparently walking off his post, said three Pentagon officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the investigation was pending.
“It was a brief call, but it went well,” said the American official, who declined to provide any other details and spoke on condition of anonymity because of the pending investigation. The officials did not disclose the general’s name and said he did not serve in Afghanistan at the same time as Sergeant Bergdahl. The general is expected to receive initial briefings in Washington next week, and then assemble a small staff in San Antonio and begin regular debriefings of Sergeant Bergdahl, officials said.
At some point after midnight on June 30, 2009, Sergeant Bergdahl, then a private, walked off his remote combat outpost in eastern Afghanistan and was later seized by the Taliban, military officials said. A classified military report completed two months after he left his unit concluded that he most likely walked away of his own free will, but stopped short of saying there was solid evidence that he intended to permanently desert, noting that he had wandered away from assigned areas before and then returned, according to people briefed on the report. President Obama’s decision to negotiate for the release of Sergeant Bergdahl in exchange for the Taliban detainees ignited anger among members of Congress and critics who equated the freeing of the Taliban detainees to bargaining with terrorists. Army officials have emphasized that the goal of reintegration was to help the sergeant resume a normal life with “minimal physical and emotional complications,” and the military’s handling of his arrival — quietly slipping him onto the base far from a cluster of TV cameras and reporters outside a main gate in the early-morning darkness — seemed intended to eliminate any complications.
While medical officials in Germany have pressed Sergeant Bergdahl for details about his time in captivity to help begin repairing his medical and psychological wounds, these specialists did not focus on the critical questions about why he left his outpost and how he was captured by insurgents. That phase of the questioning will soon begin in earnest, officials said. His treatment at Brooke Army Medical Center is expected to end with a reunion with his parents, but so far, he has declined to have any direct communication with any family members, none of whom were in San Antonio, said military officials, who declined to elaborate about why Sergeant Bergdahl has not reached out to relatives.
Pentagon officials initially dismissed the idea of court-martialing Sergeant Bergdahl, saying five years in captivity was punishment enough. But last week, Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, as well as top Army officials, said the military would determine whether Sergeant Bergdahl had broken any regulations when he left his post. The sergeant’s parents, Robert and Jani Bergdahl, of Hailey, Idaho, released a statement through the Idaho National Guard that said while they were “overjoyed” by their son’s return, they did not wish to make their travel plans public. “They ask for continued privacy as they concentrate on their son’s reintegration,” said Col. Tim Marsano of the Idaho National Guard.
In another potentially divisive aspect of the case, Army officials are weighing whether Sergeant Bergdahl warrants receiving extra back pay for the time he was held in captivity. “They’re determining whether he’s entitled to it or not,” according to an American official who has been briefed on his condition. At some point after midnight on June 30, 2009, Sergeant Bergdahl, then a private, walked off his remote combat outpost in eastern Afghanistan and was later seized by the Taliban, military officials have said. A classified military report completed two months after he left his unit concluded that he had most likely walked away of his own free will, but stopped short of saying there was solid evidence that he had intended to permanently desert, noting that he had wandered away from assigned areas before and returned, according to people briefed on the report.
In San Antonio, Sergeant Bergdahl will begin the last of three phases of what the military calls post-captivity reintegration, including specific steps to overcome the coping strategies that a captive may have developed to handle the trauma of being imprisoned, isolated and degraded. The reintegration can involve hundreds of people, including family members, members of a freed prisoner’s former unit, doctors and lawyers. President Obama’s decision to negotiate for his release in exchange for the Taliban detainees angered some members of Congress and others who equated the freeing of the Taliban detainees to bargaining with terrorists.
The process is likely to be complicated by the length and circumstances of Sergeant Bergdahl’s confinement, and the uproar over his release, said Dr. Frank Ochberg, a clinical professor of psychiatry at Michigan State University who specializes in post-traumatic stress disorder. While medical officials in Germany have pressed Sergeant Bergdahl for details about his time in captivity to help begin repairing his medical and psychological wounds, these specialists did not focus on the critical questions about why he left his outpost and how he was captured.
While military doctors at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, the medical facility in Germany where Sergeant Bergdahl was being treated, indicated this week that he was physically ready to return to the United States, some American officials questioned whether he was emotionally prepared to make the trip. Of particular concern, they said, were the potential psychological effects of reuniting with his parents and media exposure upon his return. Pentagon officials initially dismissed the idea of court-martialing Sergeant Bergdahl, citing his five years as a prisoner of war. But last week, Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, as well as top Army officials, said the military would determine whether Sergeant Bergdahl had broken any regulations when he left his post.
As recently as Wednesday, the defense secretary, Chuck Hagel, told Congress that Sergeant Bergdahl was only beginning to recuperate from the trauma of his imprisonment and that his doctors “don’t believe he’s ready” to leave Landstuhl. Until Thursday, Sergeant Bergdahl was cloistered at the hospital in Germany without access to television or the Internet, officials said. Army officials also are weighing whether Sergeant Bergdahl warrants extra back pay for the time he was held in captivity.
Sergeant Bergdahl’s arrival was far more restricted and subdued than the homecomings held at military bases more than 40 years ago for freed American prisoners of war from Vietnam, a sign of the political uproar over his disappearance and release. In San Antonio, Sergeant Bergdahl will begin the last of three phases of what the military calls post-captivity reintegration, including specific steps to overcome the coping strategies that a captive may have developed to handle the trauma of being imprisoned, isolated and degraded. The reintegration can involve hundreds of people, including family members, members of a freed prisoner’s former unit, doctors, lawyers and chaplains. The United States Army South at Fort Sam Houston has overseen the recuperation of several released American hostages since 2007, including defense contractors, civilians and soldiers.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, released prisoners of war often returned to the United States greeted by red-carpet ceremonies and their waiting loved ones. Many of them stood before reporters and photographers at news conferences shortly after they landed. “God bless the president, and God bless you, Mr. and Mrs. America, you did not forget us,” Lt. Commander Everett Alvarez Jr., a Navy pilot, told reporters at Travis Air Force Base in California in February 1973, upon his release after more than eight years in captivity by the North Vietnamese. Returned prisoners of war can face a variety of long-lasting physical and mental challenges, said Dr. Jeffrey L. Moore, the clinical neuropsychologist who serves as executive director of the Robert E. Mitchell Center for Prisoner of War Studies in Pensacola, Fla. Those range from the medical aftereffects of injuries and illnesses specific to where they were held, to malnutrition and weight loss from having been starved, to post-traumatic stress disorder, cognitive problems and early dementia brought on by torture.
Sergeant Bergdahl’s outlook on life could have a large role to play in whether and how he can recover from his ordeal. He has been described as a free-spirited, bookish young man who had been disappointed that the military was not more like the Peace Corps with guns. Those traits have been criticized by his fellow soldiers, some of whom called him a deserter and said the search for him had led to the deaths of six to eight soldiers, a claim Pentagon officials say is unsubstantiated.
“Character matters,” Dr. Moore said. “The personality strengths that the person brings to the captivity experience helps them bounce back, and specifically whether prior to captivity they’re an optimist or a pessimist.”
Sergeant Bergdahl’s arrival was far more restricted and subdued than the homecomings held at military bases more than 40 years ago for American prisoners of war freed from Vietnam, a sign of the current political uproar over Sergeant Bergdahl’s disappearance and release.