What Could Desertion Charges Mean to Bowe Bergdahl?
BRUSSELS, Belgium-Breaking news on the story of Army soldier Bowe Bergdahl who was traded for five terrorist to safety in a questionable decision by President Obama, has just been charged with Desertion. He will now face a court martial to defend against those charges. Should he be found guilty the military court can sentence him to a number of serious punishments ranging from prison time all the way to the death penalty.
The offense of desertion is covered in the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) under Article 85 which states:
- a) Any member of the armed forces who:
(1) without authority goes or remains absent from his unit, organization, or place of duty with intent to remain away therefrom permanently;
(2) quits his unit, organization, or place of duty with intent to avoid hazardous duty or to shirk important service; or
(3) without being regularly separated from one of the armed forces enlists or accepts an appointment in the same or another one of the armed forces without fully disclosing the fact that he has not been regularly separated, or enters any foreign armed service except when authorized by the United States is guilty of desertion.
The consequences for being found guilty of desertion are also spelled out in Article 85:
(c) Any person found guilty of desertion or attempt to desert shall be punished, if the offense is committed in time of war, by death or such other punishment as a court-martial may direct, but if the desertion or attempt to desert occurs at any other time, by such punishment, other than death, as a court-martial may direct.
