Most people have heard of an "Honorable Discharge," which is what you get after your time of service is completed and you have not messed up. A fair number also know about the opposite, given for bad conduct, known as the "Dishonorable Discharge," which usually follows a major malfeasance like assault, rape, or murder. Fewer are likely aware that there are a couple of in-between levels, one being a discharge granted as "Other than Honorable." I have used that one a few times with soldiers who were not good, but not really evil either. It is not as harsh as the lowest level, but it does one no good either. There is also the "General Discharge," which is much the same. Essentially you get none of the perks that come with being a veteran, and you pretty much have to write off those years of your life because no employer wants to see anything but "Honorable." But there is one more discharge that very few people have ever heard about. "Uncharacterized." That one takes some explaining. It occurs only in Basic Training.

Basic Training is the first time the military really gets to screen you. After all, just because you signed on the dotted line and made assertions when you committed, that does not mean you are on the up and up. "Uncharacterized" discharge is used exclusively (as far as I know) at the training bases that receive our newly inducted soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, and coastguardsmen in situations where a new trainee is so obviously unsuited that the military needs to quickly shed itself of that person. Usually this is for psychological reasons, as there is a physical screening required beforehand, and psychological issues typically take longer to show up.

Since, however, that individual has not been in the military long enough for even Santa to decide if he has been bad or good, it would be unfair to give that person a deep strike on their permanent record. Hence, "Uncharacterized."

Private First Class Bowe Bergdahl was already in his early twenties when he enlisted in the United States Army in 2008, older than the average junior enlisted man. He is from Idaho. He was homeschooled. He got a GED in his 20s and had never owned a car. What else do we know?

Bergdahl was captured on June 30, 2009 by the Taliban hours after he left his post in Afghanistan. For five years he was held captive by them, even as he was promoted in absentia, to his current rank of Sergeant.

(An aside: to me, that does not sit well. I know and have served with too many good men who busted their butts to make Sergeant. Automatic promotion for time served in captivity does not strike me as a good thing. But even the Army must bend to political pressure, and the Right was particularly acute on this issue. Bowe was, for years, a hero to people who wanted to score political points over the issue of his captivity. Keeping him at the rank he earned prior to being taken captive, Private First Class, was costing the Army points with Congress. So with a few pen strokes he became a Specialist, Fourth Class, and then a Sergeant.)

In a trade orchestrated by the Obama Administration, Bergdahl was finally brought home on May 31, 2014. Five of our Taliban prisoners went in the opposite direction in exchange, much as Lincoln did in the Civil War, Madison did in the War of 1812, and Washington did as a military commander in the Revolutionary War. Bergdahl became pariah, almost overnight, as the very people who for years demanded that the Administration "do something" became outraged that the Administration had done something and brought our only prisoner home.

Now NPR has entered the picture. The second season of Sarah Koenig's podcast, Serial, is focused on his case. On Tuesday, Bergdahl was formally indicted. He will now face the highest level of US Military Justice and will be tried in a General Court Martial. That news came out after Serial's first episode on the subject aired.

But one thing already leapt out at me in just the first two episodes that are already posted. For whatever reason, be it dramatic tension or the desire to keep tidbits in her back pocket to drop into the narrative reporting, Koenig skipped something about Bowe Bergdahl that really should have been right up front.

In 2006 he enlisted in the United States Coast Guard.

After 28 days in the Coast Guard Basic Training program, Bowe Bergdahl was discharged for unspecified psychiatric reasons. His discharge was "Uncharacterized." The next year he enlisted in the Army. Then he went to Afghanistan.

As always, I can be reached at R_Bateman_LTC@hotmail.com

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