
‘Serial’ Season 2 Lets Bowe Bergdahl Tell His Side of Afghan Story - mhb
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/11/business/media/serial-season-2-bowe-bergdahl-recalls-his-afghan-odyssey.html
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stvswn
I was a platoon leader in the same era and same type of unit with similar
experiences as Bergdahl's unit -- although I have no specific knowledge about
his story beyond what I've read in the news.

My perspective: he's lying like crazy to get an AWOL charge (intended to
return) rather than a desertion charge. The first might be a dishonorable
discharge, the latter prison time.

There are several reasons his story doesn't add up -- the most glaring one is
the assertion that this wacky plan was the only way he knew to get the
attention of a general officer. All soldiers know about writing their
congressman, and Bergdahl in particular seems to be pretty wordly and would
have heard about this avenue. Writing your congressman would result in a huge
shitstorm for the higher levels. It is a formal step that is taken seriously,
believe me, I've had to write formal responses to congressional liason
offices.

Second, his emails to his parents (which are already public) hint at much more
than loyalty for his fellow soldiers in the face of poor leadership. He had
concerns about US policy, culture -- I'm not sure how talking to a general
officer and blowing the whistle would have made him feel better.

I'll add, as others had, it's possible that his chain of command failed in
some regard -- and it's very likely that he was exposed to at least one really
bad leader during his time, especially at the NCO level. I also can see how
someone like him was an outcast in his unit. He was into ballet, he hung out
with the Afghans more than he did his own unit -- etc. Infantry platoons
aren't really models of tolerance and inclusion in some regards. It's a rough
life in general.

But -- and this is the important point -- there's an oath involved with
military service, and it matters even in the case of bad experiences. This is
really, really important when you go to sleep in the middle of a hostile
desert and you trust that the person guarding you is doing his duty. I think
those without military experience might be thinking that all of the veterans
who react to this are just proud of the esprit de corps and have some sort of
ethical blindspot -- like Nathan Jessup in "A Few Good Men." In truth, the
idea of a soldier abandoning his unit like this is unforgivable because it's a
matter of betraying a fundamental idea, which is that even if you personally
hate the guts of one of your fellow soldiers, you risk your life for him
because that's the only way you might all survive the deployment.

I spent a lot of time deployed just hoping that I wouldn't mess up something
important and get someone killed. The notion that there is any justification
for deliberately abandoning your unit is tough to swallow. I'm going to see
what his grievances were from his perspective and then make up my mind -- if
he exposes a massacre of civilians, for instance, I might change my mind. I've
read his emails to his parents and other articles, though, and it seems in
general he thought the other soldiers were assholes, people called him bad
names, and he thought that poor judgment was rewarded.

~~~
phyllostachys
My formerly active duty Marine Corps, pessimistic self considered that to be a
very possible reality. I thought about what I would do if I were him and I
immediately went to the 'well shit, how do I make this[1] into a story that
paints myself in a better light'.

[1] - this being going UA/deserting

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leroy_masochist
Just listened to the first episode. It's very good and Bergdahl's narrative is
fascinating. According to him, he had deep grievances with his battalion
leadership, and decided to leave his combat outpost, run 20 miles back to FOB
Sharana, thereby creating a Dust 1 (missing servicemember in theater), get
everyone's attention that way, then use the debrief as an opportunity to blow
the whistle on his chain of command.

I'm really looking forward to hearing the rest of the series, especially the
exploration of the command culture at his unit.

~~~
jszymborski
he seems to admit very early on that what he'd done was partly fuelled by a
desire to seem like a "super-solider", like Jason Borne. You can tell quickly
he's being exceedingly candid and though he maintains that he did what he did
on principle, there was misguided thought along the way.

If this is just the surface of it all, then this is going to be a fun ride.

~~~
uptown
"If this is just the surface of it all, then this is going to be a fun ride."

Six soldiers were reportedly killed searching for Bergdahl, and five Taliban
members were exchanged for him in-trade. None of that is what I'd describe as
"fun".

~~~
eric_h
He's referring, of course, to the reporting of it in the Serial podcast. Not
much of what was described in the first series of Serial was "fun" either.
Nevertheless, the podcast was compelling and quite entertaining.

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regnull
I was surprised that the journalists didn't drill into "terrible situation in
his unit" claims. They just let it slide completely - and this is the key to
the whole story. Why the situation was so bad? Also, I found his story full of
WTFs - he's afraid to go back to his base after his escape, but then he
decides to go and capture some bad guys (armed only with knife), but then he
just surrenders to a bunch of taliban who somehow manage to locate him walking
in the middle of the desert at night. I was really disappointed in this
episode, they just left lots of BS unchallenged.

~~~
DarkTree
I mean, but that's what the rest of the season is for right? This episode was
merely a setup in order to describe the event/scenario, and we can only
presume that the next episodes will dive more into detail to dissect the
situation. The event already happened, we know what happened start to finish.
It is precisely the details of 'why' that this season is after.

And correct me if I'm wrong, but I am pretty sure it was daylight the next
morning when they spotted him in the desert.

~~~
regnull
I hope you are right - but to me it sounds like the "why" question is the key
to the whole story, so they need to investigate it first. And they mentioned
that in the next episode they will talk about the search efforts. As for the
time of day he was captured - I might be wrong, but wasn't he walking it the
dark looking for flashlights and listening to radio chatter just before that?

~~~
cdcarter
You're indeed wrong. Per the reported story, he got lost in the hills (didn't
check his compass for two hours, which Koenig points out is a ... fairly
rookie mistake), eventually made it out, but was in open desert by sunrise.

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alaskamiller
Kid wants to be a hero, understandable, sometimes kids join the military
having been groomed on cartoons and cereal then realize the military culture
isn't like GI JOE.

State of mind for him was to expose corruption, again, laudable. From his
narrative he attributes previous deaths in his unit to said corruption. Life
is at stake.

So kid decides to trigger the most extensive exception in the active theater,
attracting the immediate attention of his unit, area command, the air force,
the navy, and the marines.

Now the reveal is the narrative is kid quixote but the conclusion--after
exploring the why--is going to hinge on the critical question: was it worth
it?

He survived. He has the stage he sought after. What was the message he needs
to deliver?

Spoiler: Probably not, Berghdal is still active duty in Texas.

~~~
stvswn
No, I think he was attributing potential future deaths to poor leadership --
at the time of his capture, only one soldier in his larger unit (battalion
level) had died -- 1LT Brian Bradshaw. This wasn't in his platoon or company.

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fapjacks
Nah, that guy is a shitbag. You know, I had shit leadership during all of my
tours, but you didn't see me walking off the FOB like a dick. It's the US
Army... You are _going_ to have shit leadership.

~~~
stevewillows
For someone with some experience with 'shit leadership', your input would be
interesting as the story unfolds.

