ABANDONING THE POST

No dessert in desertion

By Greg ‘Gadfly’ Doyle

PACOVILLA Corrections blog
June 8, 2014

It is certainly true that none of us live in a perfect world. For those who have been blessed to be born free in countries like the United States, Israel, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, and a handful of others, the defense of those freedoms falls primarily upon citizen soldiers who serve in the armed forces of the countries in which they live.

Adapting to the training and conditioning of military life requires strict adherence to rules, unquestioned obedience to authority, and rigid conformity to a regimen that promotes a specific method of survival and measure of success; all while fighting (and possibly dying) for one’s country in the process. And while most who enlist fulfill their commitments and return later to civilian life, there are a small minority who break ranks and run from their duty. They are known as deserters and cowards.

To my knowledge, deserters and cowards have never been looked upon with favor by any country or in any branch of service. Imagine how useless the United States military would be if all of our enlisted personnel began an unannounced exodus at the first sound of gunfire. In the 19th-Century during the American Civil War campaigns, battlefield deserters were routinely rounded up and ordered back into the fighting. Some who refused to fight were summarily court-martialed and executed in front of their comrades to discourage further desertions within the ranks.

And while he is not the first soldier to be accused of walking away from his post, it would appear (from statements made by former members of his unit in Afghanistan) that a disillusioned US Army enlisted named Bowe Bergdahl deserted his comrades and his country. Controversy has been swirling around this particular soldier since his reported disappearance in Afghanistan in 2009 and subsequent capture by Taliban forces. Now with his sudden release, arranged by order of the President in exchange for five high-ranking Taliban officers held at Guantanamo Bay prison, Bergdahl’s status as a Prisoner of War is tainted by the probability of his standing as a military deserter. The question is will Bergdahl be court-martialed now that his release was arranged by the Commander-in-Chief?

For all those sworn to duty, honor, and country—those who wear the uniform of the United States military and have sworn oaths to protect and defend our country against all enemies—abandoning the post by simply walking (or running) away from one’s comrades in arms in a combat zone is truly a despicable act of cowardice. Whatever political ramifications may be in store for the President concerning the ignored constitutional notification requirement with the release of Bergdahl from Taliban custody, there is still the matter of desertion which falls under the jurisdiction of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ.) Bowe Bergdahl is not entitled to a “Get Out of Jail Free” card simply because the President brokered his release.

It is for a military court to try and decide the case of Bergdahl’s disappearance from his post. There is no dessert in desertion where the UCMJ is concerned. And if Bergdahl is found guilty by court-martial, then leniency should not be granted if Bergdahl was responsible for his own capture through willful dereliction of duty via desertion. And if Bergdahl’s actions on the day he went missing led to the deaths of other soldiers who went in search of him, then he he must be held accountable for those deaths.

Remember, Bergdahl was not a military conscript. He volunteered for service like so many of his contemporaries have done. No one forced him to join. No one put a gun to his head and compelled him to become a soldier. Whatever his motives or justifications for abandoning his post, there can be no tolerance of military desertion, in my estimation, if that is what occurred in this case. Why? Because if the reports are true, while his parents were able celebrate his return home, six other families received the remains of their sons, who died in action trying to search for AWOL Bergdahl.

The world is indeed a dangerous place. Yet there are those who step into harm’s way willingly for the sake of others. Such is the case with the vast majority of our men and women in military service; dedicated servants who fight to defend our freedom at the cost of life, limb, and personal hardship. We do those brave souls (living and dead) no honor, we show them no gratitude, and we belittle their great sacrifices if we tolerate a deserter to walk among them unscathed, unpunished, and without shame.

The Army already has the report from the unit commander concerning the allegation of desertion. There are witnesses no doubt. All that was required was for Bergdahl to return for a proceeding to take place. The UCMJ is the proper instrument for carrying out military justice. The obligation to proceed falls upon the military.

As the Commander-in-Chief, President Obama should not interfere with due process of military law where Bowe Bergdahl is concerned. And our anti-war media should cease their cover-fire for the President if and wherever he has overstepped his constitutional authority. The public had just managed to stomach a scandal over the mistreatment of veterans by the VA, and now the White House is embroiled in the Bergdahl debacle. Does anyone think things through before they take action in the White House anymore?

As a former member of the US Army and a veteran, I am appalled by the thought of a deserter being celebrated as a hero. As a citizen, I am tired of all the scandals that continually spiral around the Oval Office. It just makes me sick. Thank God I pay for my own health insurance. LORD knows how long I might have to wait for help from this government.

How much more must we bear of this incompetent Administration?