Army officer sentenced to four years for desertion after joining the French Foreign Legion.

4 years seems like a lot to me. I haven't read much about this other than the original question and several of the comments. obviously, he did desert; however, he didn't run from the fight, and the french are on our side, so its not like he is a traitor. I'm not taking a solid position without more info, but I could imagine charging him for the education expense and give him some credit for time served. but then again, I suppose you gotta do some jail time when you desert... Pretty crazy scenario.

The Lt. needed help... I can understand where he's coming from. I can say as a leader desertion was not the answer. I give the man credit for joining the French foreign legion . Given the education he received at west point he should be punished for desertion. But also given the opportunity to continue serve to complete his contract. Why waste such a talent he is young physically fit and I believe that he should be given the a second chance .

LTC (Join to see) - those FFL guys don't play. Whether you're playing with a full deck or not, penalty is the same.

I don't have an issue with the punishment, nor do I have an issue with the judge not considering his mental health history. That's a pandora's box, and I'd be hesitant to set the precedent. Barracks lawyers will tell everyone who thinks they have PTSD that they'd get a pass for going AWOL for awhile as long as they play the mental health card.

Personally, I am unable to look at this case in a vaccuum though and judge if the verdict is just. While I don't have a problem with 4 years for a wartime desertion charge, I do have a problem with giving this guy 4 years, then giving this guy (http://popularmilitary.com/sergeant-major-convicted-of-molesting-child-but-not-kicked-out-of-military/) a relative slap on the wrist for something far more egregious after booting SFC Martland for defending child victims (unrelated topic, I know). If how we punish wrongdoers reflects on what we stand for, then we have a crisis of values on our hands, in my opinion.

Here's an interesting article comparing and contrasting LT Franks and SGT Bergdahl. I think the author makes some excellent points.

http://www.sentinelandenterprise.com/columnists/ci_27227573/peter-lucas-two-u-s-army-deserters-and

O.K., I'm going to get beaten up on this one, but here I go.

Should he have been convicted..Yes

Should he have to pay back the un-served portion of his commitment for his west point education..Yes..and that would be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Should he go to jail for it...No..There was not violence involved, he did not put anyone else in jeopardy (yes I know he left his unit prior to a deployment...but if that units success in battle depended on this one LT, then they were already in big trouble). And finally, it costs money to incarcerate someone....Why should we pay 40,000-50,000 grand a year to keep this guy in jail when he should be paying us back for the education?

It was both: a crime and self-administered therapy.

Was it necessary? Perhaps. Without wearing his shoes, I can't speak as to whether other options may have helped him. Certainly he didn't think so, and to a suicidal person one's own perspective (which is usually shouting that everything's f*cked up and it's time to end all the pain) is paramount. He felt that this was something that would help him, which makes it self-administered therapy. However, regardless of whether or not it was necessary, it was still a crime.

One of the more memorable lessons I had in ROTC brought up the theoretical case where your wife is dying of a curable disease. You cannot afford the medication. You have offered to work out a payment plan with the purveyor of the required meds, but have been declined. What do you do? Stealing the medication is legally wrong. Letting your wife die is morally wrong.

Sometimes life gives you situations where there is no right choice. All you can do is make the best decision possible, and then live with the consequences. If you commit a crime, you must be prepared to deal with the penalty, even if you felt that it was the best choice at the time.

Yes he deserves to be punished he acted in direct violation of the UCMJ

He took an oath to follow Orders when he accepted his Commission and received a free education at the expense of the American Public. He could have sought mental health treatment which is also paid for by the taxpayer.

Completely off topic, but I'm curious to how he was caught? The reason I ask is because there was a Soldier who used to be in my unit that responded to a case exactly like this. We never heard what happened after the fact, but it was interesting nonetheless. The individual who deserted and joined the FFL turned himself in by walking literally onto the post. His ID came back flagged, and that was that. Just curious if it was the same incident. Small world.

I've heard of kids wanting to run away from home to join the circus, but this is something else