Bergdahl charged with Article 99 of UCMJ

The Associated Press reports that Army prosecutors have selected Section 899, Article 99 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice as the main charge against Bowe Bergdahl, the fellow who defected to the Haqqani Network of terrorists several years ago which caused other troops to be placed in danger when they tried to rescue him from his bad choices;

“I’ve never seen it charged,” Walter Huffman, a retired major general who served as the Army’s top lawyer, said of the misbehavior charge. “It’s not something you find in common everyday practice in the military.”

Bergdahl could face a life sentence if convicted of the charge, which accuses him of endangering fellow soldiers when he “left without authority; and wrongfully caused search and recovery operations.”

Huffman and others say the misbehavior charge allows authorities to allege that Bergdahl not only left his unit with one less soldier, but that his deliberate action put soldiers who searched for him in harm’s way. The Pentagon has said there is no evidence anyone died searching for Bergdahl.

According to af.mil, Section 899, Article 99 reads thusly;

Any person subject to this chapter who before or in the presence of the enemy–

(1) runs away;

(2) shamefully abandons, surrenders, or delivers up any command, unit, place, or military property which it is his duty to defend;

(3) through disobedience, neglect, or intentional misconduct endangers the safety of any such command, unit, place, or military property;

(4) casts away his arms or ammunition;

(5) is guilty of cowardly conduct;

(6) quits his place of duty to plunder or pillage;

(7) causes false alarms in any command, unit, or place under control of the armed forces;

(8) willfully fails to do his utmost to encounter, engage, capture, or destroy any enemy troops, combatants, vessels, aircraft, or any other thing, which it is his duty so to encounter, engage, capture, or destroy; or

(9) does not afford all practicable relief and assistance to any troops, combatants, vessels, or aircraft of the armed forces belonging to the United States or their allies when engaged in battle;

shall be punished by death or such punishment as a court- martial may direct.

The AP story says that Bergdahl could be sentenced to life, but, reading the article, it looks like it is a capital offense. Yeah, I know he’ll never be sentenced to life in prison or death by neck stretching, but I can dream, can’t I? The AP also says that Article 99 is rarely used, as compared to the number of times it was used during World War II;

Misbehavior before the enemy was used hundreds of times during World War II, but scholars say its use appears to have dwindled in conflicts since then. Misbehavior before the enemy cases were tried at least 494 times for soldiers in Europe between 1942 and 1945, according to a Military Law Review article.

Legal databases and media accounts turn up only a few misbehavior cases since 2001 when fighting began in Afghanistan, followed by Iraq less than two years later. By contrast, statistics show the U.S. Army prosecuted about 1,900 desertion cases between 2001 and the end of 2014.

So, the article 32 hearing is scheduled to begin September 17th at Fort Sam Houston.

Category: Shitbags