A U.S. official says the Army sergeant who abandoned his post in Afghanistan and was held by the Taliban for five years will be court martialed on charges of desertion and avoiding military service.
Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl will also be charged with misbehavior before the enemy, said the official, who was not authorized to discuss the announcement publicly on the record and spoke on condition of anonymity.
The U.S. military plans an announcement at Fort Bragg in North Carolina Wednesday afternoon.
Bergdahl walked away from his post in Afghanistan and was captured, then released from Taliban capture in a prisoner exchange.
Gen. Mark Milley, head of U.S. Army Forces Command at Fort Bragg, has been reviewing the massive case files and had a broad range of legal options, including various degrees of desertion charges.
A major consideration was whether military officials would be able to prove that Bergdahl had no intention of returning to his unit — a key element in the more serious desertion charges.
Before he was a rescued Taliban captive facing charges of military desertion, Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl was a local kid living near a small Idaho town.
The "Bring Bowe Home" posters and yellow ribbons have long since been removed from the light posts and store fronts of Hailey, Idaho. But Blaine County Commissioner Larry Schoen says Bergdahl and his family still have all the community's support.
Schoen says residents will accept the results of the military investigation and let the judicial process run its course. He says the community will focus on supporting the family and not be distracted by Bergdahl's "difficult and complicated story."
State Rep. Christy Perry from Nampa said she was disappointed by the news of the charges against Bergdahl. The Republican lawmaker said he has already paid for any wrongdoing by spending five years in the hands of the Taliban.