SGT Bowe Bergdahl Freed

[17D_guy]

Thought this was a new topic and he was given no punishment.

 

Whew...

[tac airlifter]

His trial has confused me.  I was informed that SGT Berghdal served with honor and distinction.  What happened?

Edited October 27, 2017 by tac airlifter
Brevity is virtue

[MooseAg03]

Last I read, he agreed to a naked plea deal which means he pled guilty without having a sentencing agreement. I’m no legal expert, but the former mil lawyer they interviewed said that meant the evidence against him was strong. Then his defense team argued that comments made by the President during and after the campaign affect his ability to receive a fair trial and somehow that should result in a more lenient sentence? Like I mentioned before, what he deserves is a firing squad so he should be happy with life in prison.

[Stoker]

12 hours ago, MooseAg03 said:

His statement about how the Taliban are better than US forces just goes to show where his loyalties lie. He should rot in prison for the rest of his life. Considering the punishment in Article 85 for desertion in wartime is up to death, I think he would be getting off easy (sts) with life in prison. What a piece of garbage.

They charged him as if he deserted in peacetime, so that the death penalty was off the table. 

[ThreeHoler]

Dishonorable discharge with no jail time.

[matmacwc]

32 minutes ago, ThreeHoler said:

Dishonorable discharge with no jail time.

UFB, but you can't really parade him around the white house, give up a few prisoners then throw him in jail can you.

[Homestar]

Does a dishonorable discharge have to be reported on job applications like a felony conviction would?  Does the civilian world even know or care what it takes to get a dishonorable discharge?

[iceman]

6 minutes ago, Homestar said:

Does a dishonorable discharge have to be reported on job applications like a felony conviction would?  Does the civilian world even know or care what it takes to get a dishonorable discharge?

I've never once had an employer ask me about my DD-214.  As far as I can tell, the only ones that give any s about whether you got a DD are government jobs.

[HossHarris]

Zero benefits. So there’s that. That’s something I guess. 

[17D_guy]

6 hours ago, iceman said:

I've never once had an employer ask me about my DD-214.  As far as I can tell, the only ones that give any s about whether you got a DD are government jobs.

I don't know about now.  But my first retail job wanted to know what kind of discharge you had on the application.  I think there was also some commentary from the judge saying the comments of the President had to be taken into order when deciding this ruling.

Same thing happened with Obama and the sexual assault convictions and undue command influence.

[Prosuper]

He will be treated as the flavor of the month by the liberal rags. I bet he will be signing huge advances for books and movie deals and get all the Starbucks coffee he can drink for free. Manning and himself will be appearing as husband and wife at Gay pride events.This is what happens when you lower enlistment standards to fill the ranks, hell he washed out of Coast Guard boot camp but made it to Sgt in the Army ,WTF.

 

[MooseAg03]

I guess this thread title actually fits now. Our military justice system is jacked up.

[Prosuper]

15 minutes ago, 17D_guy said:

I don't know about now.  But my first retail job wanted to know what kind of discharge you had on the application.  I think there was also some commentary from the judge saying the comments of the President had to be taken into order when deciding this ruling.

Same thing happened with Obama and the sexual assault convictions and undue command influence.

Not a lawyer but that is not the Judges job to do the defendants  lawyers job by passing on a appeals process to lower his sentence. 

[iceman]

On 11/3/2017 at 10:10 PM, 17D_guy said:

I don't know about now.  But my first retail job wanted to know what kind of discharge you had on the application.  I think there was also some commentary from the judge saying the comments of the President had to be taken into order when deciding this ruling.

Same thing happened with Obama and the sexual assault convictions and undue command influence.

Yeah, I guess for lower level retail jobs and working fast food they might ask.  For jobs an actual adult would want, not so much.

[Lord Ratner]

Yeah, I guess for lower level retail jobs and working fast food they might ask.  For jobs an actual adult would want, not so much.

So an adult job... Like the airlines?

[tac airlifter]

12 hours ago, iceman said:

Yeah, I guess for lower level retail jobs and working fast food they might ask.  For jobs an actual adult would want, not so much.

Do you think your employer would know or care if you were a felon?  Dishonorable discharge is, depending on the state, equivalent to a felony conviction.  It’s not good, and employers who do a cursory background check will know.  

[brickhistory]

https://www.eeoc.gov/laws/practices/inquiries_arrest_conviction.cfm

[BashiChuni]

As long as this fool doesn’t get that book deal the previous post discussed. Live with his shame. 

[Guardian]

I’m sure he will get an Ivy League honorary fellowship or doctorate like the felon he she did.

[17D_guy]

On 11/3/2017 at 9:28 PM, Prosuper said:

Not a lawyer but that is not the Judges job to do the defendants  lawyers job by passing on a appeals process to lower his sentence. 

Not a lawyer either, but our system has some peculiarities that might make this the actual case.  Either way, I hold to a belief system that tells me not to judge.  So I'm trying to do that in this situation, with middling success.

[Azimuth]

On 11/3/2017 at 12:47 PM, Homestar said:

Does a dishonorable discharge have to be reported on job applications like a felony conviction would?  Does the civilian world even know or care what it takes to get a dishonorable discharge?

Depends on what it's for.  A lot of people claim that a dishonorable is an automatic felony, that depends on a lot of factors and where you decide to live.  Of course murder would be unanimous for a felony if adjudged in a court martial with a dishonorable because of what it was for.  However Bergdahl was convicted of Military Only Offenses, some states would consider the offense of what he was convicted of and care, some wouldn't.

Either way what happens next, unless he waives it, is the discharge is not executed.  He still has to wait for possible clemency from the Convening Authority (most likely won't happen), and since the offense were committed before 2013, when the UCMJ changed, the Convening Authority has the authority to disapprove the punitive discharge.  While he's waiting for that he'll use any leave that he has, and be paid, until 14-days later when the demotion takes place (or the Convening Authority acts before, which probably won't happen).

After his leave is exhausted, he'll be placed in appellate leave status which is a unpaid status.  He won't work, but he'll still be eligible for Tricare.  He's waiting for the Army Appellate Court (ACCA) to review his case since he was sentenced to a punitive discharge, which takes about a year.  If they affirm his conviction he can appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces (CAAF) to hear his case, and possibly overturn what the ACCA and Convening Authority approved.  If the CAAF affirm his conviction he can appeal to the Supreme Court via a Write of Certiorari, however the Supreme Court has a history of not wanting to hear a lot of military trials since their decisions could possibly change the Manual for Court Martial/UCMJ, which are written by Congress and the President.

A lot the JAG's feel that this was the right decision, as do I.  Trump's comments as a candidate were stupid, but not technically Unlawful Command Influence (UCI).  However affirming and talking about it the day prior to court martial starting, as the President, was very ignorant.  Regardless of how one feels, if a Military Judge has to go on the record and hear and make a decision on the President's comments, that's never a good thing.  Of course Trump's comments weren't going to affect the Military Judge, however the fact he considered it during sentencing means it was a mitigating factor for sentencing.  And we all know him deserting led to his captivity, however he was still captive for five year in terrible condition.  That was also another mitigation factor in sentencing.  

I think a punitive discharge, no confinement was the right call for a sentence.  However Trump's comments are going to create a ton of appellate issues.

Edited November 6, 2017 by Azimuth

[Azimuth]

11 hours ago, Lord Ratner said:

16 hours ago, iceman said:

Yeah, I guess for lower level retail jobs and working fast food they might ask.  For jobs an actual adult would want, not so much.

So an adult job... Like the airlines?

I know one pilot, who was convicted in a court martial for drugs, flying for Kalitta and one who was Art 15'd for prescription drug use flying for FedEx.  Southwest, Delta, and Apple didn't give two shits what my discharge was.  Outside of filling out the block on "Protected Veteran" they never asked anything else.

[Guest LumberjackAxe]

I was on the "wtf how'd he get off with no jailtime for deserting?" bandwagon until I went and talked to my SERE instructor in the vault. Big surprise, there's a lot that isn't getting reported beyond the open-source "he gave us good SERE intel." Given all the new information, I'm not as irked about his sentence anymore.

[Danger41]

32 minutes ago, LumberjackAxe said:

I was on the "wtf how'd he get off with no jailtime for deserting?" bandwagon until I went and talked to my SERE instructor in the vault. Big surprise, there's a lot that isn't getting reported beyond the open-source "he gave us good SERE intel." Given all the new information, I'm not as irked about his sentence anymore.

My unclass cliff notes of the debrief: It sucks major balls to be a Taliban prisoner for 5 years.

[HeloDude]

15 minutes ago, Danger41 said:

My unclass cliff notes of the debrief: It sucks major balls to be a Taliban prisoner for 5 years.

Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.