--- description: Bowe Bergdahl's saga was TIME's cover story on June 16, 2014. title: Bergdahl Desertion Charge Was Months in the Making image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltba0214452e61730b/69878541e53aba78354d841a/bergdahl-cover.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [History](/section/history/) ## History Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Military](/tag/military/) ## Military Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # The Desertion Charge for Bowe Bergdahl Was Months in the Making ## Video: Here’s What That Bergdahl Video Really Shows [Watch (HLS stream): Here’s What That Bergdahl Video Really Shows](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/PYBoRFho.m3u8) (2:58)  _Published 2014-06-04. TIME's Mark Thompson on what the video really means_  by [Lily Rothman](/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Mar 25, 2015 7:01 PM CUT  The June 16, 2014, cover of TIME The June 16, 2014, cover of TIMETIME Photo-illustration. Bergdahl: U.S. Army/Getty Images  by [Lily Rothman](/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Mar 25, 2015 7:01 PM CUT Nearly a year after he was brought home through a prisoner exchange, Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl will be court-martialed, a military official [revealed](http://time.com/3758651/bowe-bergdahl-desertion/ "undefined") Wednesday. The charges will be “desertion and avoiding military service” as well as “misbehavior before the enemy.” An official U.S. military announcement will come later Wednesday. Last summer, when Bergdahl first returned to the United States, the chance that he might face such charges was already clear. Throughout a time of heated debate over the resources and compromises that had been necessary to bring him home, the Army promised to investigate what had happened. “Depending on the details, the facts of the case might support a charge of desertion–one of the most serious crimes a soldier can commit,” TIME’s David von Drehle explained. And the details were bedeviling. As the story continued: --- > “” --- **_Read the rest of the story here on TIME.com:_** [No Soldier Left Behind](http://time.com/2826276/bowe-bergdahl-no-soldier-left-behind/ "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3758604/bergdahl-sentence-2014-cover-story/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3758604/bergdahl-sentence-2014-cover-story/"},"headline":"The Desertion Charge for Bowe Bergdahl Was Months in the Making","datePublished":"2015-03-25T19:01:30.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T05:26:22.727Z","description":"Bergdahl's saga was TIME's cover story on June 16, 2014","url":"https://time.com/3758604/bergdahl-sentence-2014-cover-story/","keywords":["Military","Crime","Bowe Bergdahl"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltba0214452e61730b/69878541e53aba78354d841a/bergdahl-cover.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Lily Rothman","jobTitle":"Rothman is managing editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/"}],"articleSection":"History","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltba0214452e61730b/69878541e53aba78354d841a/bergdahl-cover.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"bergdahl-cover","caption":"The June 16, 2014, cover of TIME","creditText":"TIME Photo-illustration. Bergdahl: U.S. Army/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/history/","name":"History"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/military/","name":"Military"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3758604/bergdahl-sentence-2014-cover-story/","name":"The Desertion Charge for Bowe Bergdahl Was Months in the Making"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Here’s What That Bergdahl Video Really Shows","description":"TIME's Mark Thompson on what the video really means","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/PYBoRFho/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-06-04T17:00:14.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/PYBoRFho.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3758604/bergdahl-sentence-2014-cover-story/","duration":"PT2M58S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3758604/bergdahl-sentence-2014-cover-story/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```