That Sergeant Bowe bergdahl, who was held in captivity for five years, has been charged with desertion and ms. Shaving before the enemy. And misbehaving before the enemy. The numbers are on the screen. You can also send us a tweet or go to facebook. And you can also send us an email. The announcement came from fort bragg yesterday from the army, outlining the charges against Sergeant Bowe bergdahl. Take a look at what they had to say. [video clip] the u. S. Army command has thoroughly reviewed the allegations surrounding Sergeant Bowe bergdahls disappearance and formally charged him on march 25, 2015 with desertion with intent to shirk important or hazardous duty and misbehavior before the enemy and has referred the case to an article 32 preliminary hearing. Host colonel daniel king the spokesman for the u. S. Army forces command then went on to talk about the potential punishment for Sergeant Bergdahl. Take a look. [video clip] colonel king there are potential punishment associated with the charges. Desertion with intention to shirk important or hazardous duty carries a maximum potential punishment of a disHonorable Discharge, reduction to the rank of eone total forfeiture of pay and allowances, and a maximum confinement of five years. Article 99 of the uniform code of military justice, misbehavior before the enemy by endangering the safety of command to my unit, or place carries a maximum potential penalty of a disHonorable Discharge reduction to the rank of e1 total forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and possible confinement for life. Host the Army Spokesman yesterday outlining the punishment that Bowe Bergdahl could face if he is charged with the accusations put forth by the army yesterday, desertion and misbehavior before the enemy. We will take your thoughts on this. The phone lines are open. At first, joining us on the phone is Gordon Lubold, senior military defect senior military reporter for defense one. Gordon, lets begin with why now . Guest this investigation had on on for some time and was actually completed by sergeant millie completed by the fourstar general charged with the matter. It has been under wraps for some time. I think there were some political push to get this done and out there. As you know, the swap that resulted in Sergeant Bergdahls release last year was highly political and controversial. A lot of Service Members complained about the attempt to rescue or find Sergeant Bergdahl at the time command and subsequently the swap for Sergeant Bergdahl 45 detainees at Guantanamo Bay who were remanded to qatar was also highly criticized. Host we heard the charges and potential punishment. What is the likelihood that Sergeant Bowe bergdahl would be charged to the maximum from a court . Guest right, so hes been charged with desertion and his behavior misbehavior with the enemy, which is kind of a strange charge but is the more serious one that if he was found guilty of that could end up in prison for life. It seems pretty unlikely that bergdahl will get a long time in prison. Clearly, he was held captive by the taliban for five years. This is almost like it is something that army has to go through to determine his guilt or innocence. In the end, it seems somewhat unlikely that he would actually be put back in prison. There are some there is several hundred thousand dollars that he is owed, because when he disappeared the army stopped paying him. They have been holding those funds all this time. The forfeiture of that money, as well as being bumped down to private and dishonorably discharged seems the more likely outcomes of this. Host what happens next year to what happens next . Guest he has been charged, and the contents of that investigation has not been revealed. Even his own attorney does not know exactly what is in there. There will be what is called an article 32 hearing sometime soon. We dont know exactly when. This is a military justice process that is likened to a grand jury inquiry. It will determine if you will be courtmartialed or not and how that will move forward. We will probably have some clarity in the next month or two i would think. Host Sergeant Bergdahls lawyer put out a 20 page statement yesterday, and in that he included a letter that was sent to the general who investigated and came up with these charges. I will be part of it for you and our viewers. In light of nearly five years of captivity Sergeant Bergdahl endured, the purpose of his leaving his unit, and is gave her while a prisoner, and would be unduly harsh to impose on in the life my lifetime stigma of a courtmartial conviction or in other than Honorable Discharge and to deny him Veterans Benefits. The existing missing captured that is determined should not be disturbed and his injuries in captivity shall be deemed to have been incurred in the line of duty and not as a result of his own misconduct. What do you think of that . Guest its a really interesting case, because Sergeant Bergdahl apparently left the base on his own, and the desertion charge. According to his lawyer, to find a senior officer to complain about things within his unit which seems a little funny because he was a combat outpost in afghanistan, a particularly dangerous area along the border. So to go leave the base and try to find a senior officer to complain to seems like a strange and funny thing. But anyway, he did this on his own and you are aware of the criticism even among some Service Members even within his unit, glad to go find him or try to find him who had to go find him or try to find him. There was some claim that the search for him resulted in the death of some Service Members, and others being wounded as they tried to rescue him. I think the issue is, did he wander off on his own . Maybe it was good judgment or bad judgment, but how do you provide justice when this is something he did on his own . He wasnt kidnapped or anything else. I think it will really come down to what his lawyer was talking about, which is his veterans and if its Veterans Benefits and his pay and the status he will leave the army with as opposed to prisoner. Host Gordon Lubold senior military reporter with defense one, thank you. Lets get to your thoughts. Derek from texas, good morning. Caller good morning. I think that the man should be courtmartialed. Its kind of difficult when people go out to search for your life and help you out. They are a band of brothers. Host you are referring to those who went and looked for him . Caller that is correct. Host there was an independent investigation done by the army and those details have not been released yet. But the lawyer for Sergeant Bergdahl was given an executive summary of that report and in the statement he put out yesterday, he says this about the report. The derek, your response. Caller i think that is going to be a really tough one to figure out. This is in a military tribunal now. But i honestly feel that the story of the day is ted cruz. He is getting obamacare now. That is the story of the day. Host all right, derek. Bill, your thoughts with Bowe Bergdahl being charged with desertion and misbehavior with the enemy. Caller one of the things that the reporter failed to mention was that in the military code of conduct, death is part of the sentence that Bowe Bergdahl should receive. However, i dont believe that. But i do believe that he should be imprisoned for life and if he was paid any money for when he was in captivity, that should be paid back i him. Back by him. This is ridiculous. Six men were killed, according to the men he served with who were at that base, and as the general stated, he should receive life in prison without parole. He is a deserter. Host i just read part of the lawyers statement put out yesterday by pope by the lawyer for Bowe Bergdahl. He referenced the investigation looking into the circumstances of his captivity and he says this report dismisses any notion that he aided with the enemy that he was seeking out the enemy, and that anyone was killed searching for him. This will all play out in court, presumably. But you dont believe that . Caller i do not believe that and i think because of the way the president embarrassed himself, and miss rice coming on National Television stating that he was a hero i think they put a spin on this. But special forces commanders and generals in iraq stated stated six men were killed trying to locate bergdahl. Host ok. Eric in cedartown, georgia high, eric. Hi, eric. Caller these people are just conspiring with israel or the United States government these are the people that need to be dealt with. Bergdahl probably could have just had some kind of psychotic episode. Something could have been wrong with him. He didnt have note secrets or nothing to give to give these people. Please dont cut me off. Host we are listening, eric. Caller these guys are the traders. Also, anyone who comes on and questions the israeli propaganda , you want to hang up on people and stuff. They are the real traitors, spying on the united host when you make generalizations about entire group of people, that is when the host in this chair jumps in, because you sound or people who have made those in the past found antisomatic. Sound antisomatemitic. Thats not our topic this morning. Lets continue on. Caller i think at a minimum he should be tried for treason and shot. I think we also do not know how to try anyone like this. Major at fort was, he should have been excluded, too. If i had abandoned my buddies in vietnam, i expect to be shot for treason. Host jamie, independent. Caller the government is lying again. Six men were killed searching for this man. Line him up and shoot him. Host ok, as we said to mother lawyer for Sergeant Bergdahl putting out a nearly 20 page statement yesterday outlining his case against the United States in defense of Sergeant Bergdahl. Its newly 20 pages. You can find it its nearly 20 pages. You can find it on our website. It is on your screen there. That from the New York Times this morning. In a statement from Sergeant Bergdahl lawyer, he does make reference to this, the report by the army that has yet to be released makes it clear that Sergeant Bergdahl is a truthful person, albeit an naive and unrealistic one. Fred in huntsville, alabama, independent color. Independent caller. Caller good morning. Im retired veteran almost 15 years. One of the positions i held was drill site and. Drill sergeant. We work to weed out those people who do not function well under stress. They had to dock on do this to this guy because they need to send a message to all of they had to do this to this guy because they need to send a message to all of the other troops that they cannot just get up and run. And the other thing is this america, sending these people over there for three or four or five tours of duty, that is asking too much of these people. Host the front page of the usa today, their story. They say this. John in louisiana, republican. Hi john. Caller good morning. I spent 28 years in the air force, retired. I flew in combat in vietnam and the row a lot of my fellow aviators who spent many years in captivity in horrible conditions, yet managed to return with honor. Its not great. Its black and white. The reader do or you do not. You either do or you do not. You take an oath, as the last element pointed out. And its a very solemn oath and you have to live at the consequences. No, not everybodys going to rise to the same high level, but there are consequences for the people who are there and the military men know the consequences of that action. The thing that i think is bothering me the most about this is how the politics are getting wrapped into what is essentially a judicial matter. Yes, the man is innocent until proven guilty. The Court Martial system will do that. But there are so much flak going on around it is hard to separate the fact that this isnt this is a military judicial case and it will have an ending. Like what the lawyer read he is quoted from some report that has not been in evidence yet. Host john, do you think you can get a fair trial, Sergeant Bergdahl . Caller yes, i have been on military courtmartial. The military judicial system, i think, is superior to civilian. The military panel, its like a jury asking a question. The judge has to allow it yes but i think its a more fair system. You are certainly judged by your peers. A have to be military people. They have to be military people. It used to be all officers, but now it is officers and enlist in. Host some have said, shouldnt we cant count five years in captivity of time served . And before you answer, his leader put out a page and a half statement outlining what he went through. Let me read a little bit for you and the other viewers and you respond. He says that he tried to escape 12 times during those five years. Caller yes, and that sounds a lot like what the men in vietnam went through. Yes, its horrible. Now, he does get credit for his time served. But at some point in time, that doesnt stop until he is convicted in a courtmartial and given Something Like a disHonorable Discharge. That is when things stop. Not right now. He is still getting all of the benefits and everything he is due. You can go through books about the p. O. W. s in the hanoi hilton and read that a thousand times, and some of them died in captivity because of what they had to endure. Yet they stayed faithful to the end. The standard is very high. Im not apologizing for that. Nobody goes into that High Standard job with their eyes closed. It is voluntary. And it has to be followed. Host let me read a little bit more from Sergeant Bergdahl in his own words. Loretta in lucasfilm ohio, independent. Lucasfilm, ohio, independent. Caller they say they do not negotiate with terrorists, but wasnt it terrace that they freed from Guantanamo Bay to get his men back at home that was to get this man back . That was negotiation itself. Host is that your point . Caller yes. Host and some of the papers are saying that the president that a dangerous precedent. Caller i dont believe they ever call that guy in texas that killed a dozen or so at the base. They never called him a terrorist. They called it workplace violence. That is bowl. Host listen to this, the president talking about Sergeant Bergdahls release. [video clip] president obama this morning, i called bob and Ginny Bergdahl and told them their son was coming home. While bo was gone, he was never forgotten. His parents thought about him and prayed for him every single day, as did his sister sky, who prayed for his safe return. He was not forgotten by his community in idaho, or the military, which rallied to support the bergdahls through thick and thin. And he wasnt forgotten by his country, because the United States of america does not ever leave our men and women in uniform behind. As commanderinchief, im proud of the servicemembers who recovered Sergeant Bergdahl and brought him safely out of harms way. As usual, they performed with extraordinary courage and professionalism and they have made their nation proud. Write now, our top priority is making sure that boewe if the care and support he needs and can be reunited with his family as soon as possible. Host president obama in june of last year talking about the release of Sergeant Bergdahl, the exchange he did for five prisoners at Guantanamo Bay. Jonathan turley writing and usa todays opinion pages says this. By the way the Government Accountability office saying today that president obamas decision to go around congress was illegal in not informing them of this swap. Inside the Washington Times this morning, here is a quote by the obama administration. That is from the spokesperson of the state department. Lucius in memphis, tennessee republican. Your thoughts. Caller democrat. Host ok, go ahead. Caller i want to a make one statement. No one knows whether that man was under orders to do that or not. And its not coming out because it secret. I served 20 years in the military and ive been told that. We do that. Host ok. Jean in michigan, democrat. Caller bergdahl, when he left his post, he was probably in that morning absent without leave. And then when he was taken to prisoner, he was changed to absent without leave and then to prisoner of war. You are not listed as a deserter until youve been gone for 30 days. To prove desertion in a courtmartial, you have to prove that he never intended to return , and by him trying to escape a couple of times, he was obviously trying to return to stop to return. Its going to be a legal think of and investing he can do is get a civilian lawyer when he is courtmartial. Host yeah, i think he did. What do you think of his promotions in captivity . The statement that his lawyer put out, which you can read yourself he includes letters that were sent, or certificates of promotion given to Sergeant Bergdahl while he was in captivity. Caller