Bowe Bergdahl had deserted before and officers KNEW he was a risk: Classified report reveals Army’s fears over Bergdahl as he faces desertion charge

Classified 2010 military investigation found Bowe Bergdahl did leave his post in 2009



Official says: 'We have no indication he intended to leave permanently'

Former military officials said Bergdahl left a note for his comrades saying he did not want to fight for America any more and was leaving to start a new life

Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff today said 'it's premature' to think there will be no charges laid against Bergdahl

Taliban militants released in exchange for Bergdahl will be allowed to roam Qatar free and can return to Afghanistan after a year

Report: Obama ignored intelligence briefings that the five Taliban were too dangerous to release

President is blasted for 'going rouge' and not telling Congress in advance of the prisoner swap



A U.S. Army investigation found that Bowe Bergdahl had walked away from his post at least once before his capture - and that other soldiers in his unit knew he was a flight risk.



The 2010 report, called an AR15-6, is still classified, but it appears to confirm allegations that the former prisoner of war violated military regulations - and that the Pentagon knew it all along.



The revelation, attributed to anonymous sources by the Military Times, comes as the nation's top general, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Martin Dempsey, acknowledged the growing cloud of suspicion hanging over Bergdahl.

The Military Times report says that investigators who looked into the June 2009 capture of Bergdahl found that several soldiers from his unit said he had talked openly about wanting to leave the forward operating base where he was stationed.



Scroll down for videos

AWOL? Bowe Bergdahl, pictured with pipe in mouth manning an observation post months before his disappearance, left a note telling his fellow soldiers that he was leaving to start a new life, did not want to fight for America and did not believe in war

Trial? Bergdahl (in T-shirt)faces the threat of desertion charges, the Army announced just days after Obama's national security advisor Susan Rice said he served with 'honor and distinction'

Penalty: A former comrade of Bergdahl's (seated with Blackfoot Company, 1st Battalion 501st infantry Regiment (Airborne) 25th Infantry Division in Afghanistan) said he should face the firing squad for what he did

They found he may have left the base at least once before, as well.

'We have no indication that he intended to leave permanently,' an official told the Military Times.



However, a different source described as a former senior military official, told the New York Times that Bergdahl left a startling note in his tent saying that he no longer supported the Army mission in Afghanistan and that he was leaving to start a new life.



Even amid the mounting evidence that Bergdahl left his post, military law experts told the Military Times that it was unlikely Bergdahl would be court martialed and imprisoned.



'I don’t think they’ll do that in this case,' Eugene Fidell, the former president of the National Institute of Military Justice, said.



'Unless something comes to light that suggests that he was a turncoat or joined the other side or assisted the other side in some way. … There is no public indication that any of those things are true in his case.'

The military has a history of over-looking infractions committed by prisoners of war. However, in 2004, Charles Robert Jenkins was sentenced to 30 days in jail for his 1965 desertion in Korea. He was captured by the North Koreans and spent decades as a prisoner there before being released in 2002.

Premeditated: Soldiers claim Bergdahl (pictured in proof of life video) planned his desertion. He sent belongings home, learned the language, did not breach the perimeter fence on the day he disappeared and would spend his time learning the local languages. He even told them he wanted to walk to China



Killed in the search: Staff Sergeant Clayton Bowen, 29, (left) and Private First Class Morris Walker, 23, (right) were killed in an IED explosion on August 18, 2009

Staff Sergeant Kurt Curtiss, (left) a 27-year-old father of two, who died in a firefighter on August 26, 2009. Staff Sergeant Michael Murphrey, 25, (right) was killed in an IED blast on September 5, 2009

Second Lieutenant Darryn Andrews, 34, (left) and Private First Class Matthew Michael Martinek, 20, (right) died after a rocket-propelled grenade ambush on September 4, 2009

LEGAL CONSEQUENCES: WHAT IS IN STORE FOR BERGDAHL?

There are a variety of offenses related to an absence without proper approval, and a number of potential actions could be taken by the military.

He could be tried by court martial under the Uniform Code of Military Justice for desertion; he could be given a non-judicial punishment for a lesser charge, such as being away without leave. And he could be given credit for time already served while he was a prisoner.

Lisa Schenck, a former military judge who is now a professor at George Washington University's law school, told US News and World Report that Bergdahl already have a charge sheet listing alleged crimes as the remnants of an earlier 2010 Pentagon investigation, where they reportedly found 'incontrovertible' evidence that he left the base voluntarily.

She said that one of the possible punishments for abandoning one's post during a time of war is the death penalty.

Others think that it is unlikely that he will be issued a death order, especially in light of the massive effort that the government went through to retrieve him.

'Death is still a lawful sentence for desertion in a time of war, I’m not suggesting that’s not in the realm of possibilities for a case like this... there could be significant punishment, significant confinement,' Victor Hansen, a former military prosecutor who teaches at the New England School of Law.

In the past 150 years, there have only been two cases when a soldier has been executed for desertion, and the last time was in 1945.

In a Facebook post on Tuesday, Depsey suggested that the military would investigate Bergdahl's record.



'As for the circumstances of his capture, when he is able to provide them, we’ll learn the facts. Like any American, he is innocent until proven guilty. Our Army’s leaders will not look away from misconduct if it occurred. In the meantime, we will continue to care for him and his family,' he wrote.



He could, however, be quielty discharged from the Army for medical or other reasons, the Military Times reports.



The post was shared more than 1,000 times and has garnered more than 600 comments, including many from people calling for Bergdahl to be prosecuted.



Bergdahl is currently recovering at a military hospital in Germany and is being interviewed by Army doctors and psychologists.



An Army spokesman told the Military Times that he did not have lawyer. 'I’m not going to speculate on whether he needs a lawyer. Let’s just get him back,' said a spokesman.



When he returns home, Bergdahl will be entitled to back pay for the five years he was in captivity.



Bergdahl was promoted in absentia two years after he went missing, being promoted from private first class to sergeant in September 2011.



It was reported Monday that he was scheduled for a second promotion- to staff sergeant- in June of this year if he was not found in time.

President Obama defended his decision to trade five Guantanamo Bay inmates for Bergdahl during a press conference in Poland on Monday, saying the US had an obligation not to leave any of its military personnel behind.

One of Bergdahl's former comrades told MailOnline that Bergdahl deserves to be charged - the latest in a rising chorus of voices demanding discipline.



He said: ‘As far as I’m concerned Bergdahl deserted his men and should face a court martial. People died trying to save him. He was a deserter’.

Six soldiers are said to have been killed in the massive manhunt to recover Bergdahl.