Bergdahl's rank

A lot of people are confused as to how someone like Bergdahl was promoted to sergeant (E-5) .  He was generally thought by his comrades to be a loser as a soldier.   He was thought by men in his platoon (44 men) and company (150 0dd men) to be self-obssessed,  infantile, etc.  As opposed to statements by enlisted men, statements or reports by commissiond officers about him cannot be relied on for verisimilitude.  Officers are creatures wedded to career and are not inclined to write bad things about their men lest it reflect on them as well.

It is the policy of the US armed forces to promote people held as prisoners of war at the time their contemporaries are promoted without other considerations.  This is a good policy and intended to avoid penalizing career people who otherwise would fall so far behind their contemporaries that they would have no choice but to leave the armed forces.  pl  

Comments

[Bill H]

My nephew asked if it wasn't ususally necessary to perform certain accomplishments and get reccomendations for promotion. I told him yes, but that POWs are promoted based on "time in grade" because they are held in a position where they are unable to perform those usual requirements and the military does not penalize its people for having been captured.

[turcopolier]

Bill H

You were correct, and some strange promotions have resulted. pl

[The Twisted Genius]

Hmmm, somewhat akin to the tenured military professors "incarcerated" at West Point.

[John Minnerath]

We can be pretty sure this man would never have seen 3 stripes had he not been considered to be a POW.

[turcopolier]

TTG

Ah, no. there are two kinds of permanent military faculty at WP. There are Permanent Associate professors who are given a non-competitive promotion to O-6 when their year group arrives at that point. They retain branch identity and are retired when their year group reaches 30 years. Then, there are
"Professors of the USMA." There is a special law that governs these people. Their chair carries with it the rank of colonel (o-6)When appointed they are immediately promoted to that grade and remain at that grade until retirement at 70 or thereabouts. They belong to no branch and have special insignia for their appointment. They can be appointed from civilian life and have been. when they retire they are often made a BG on the retired list as recognition of a long life involved in not rocking the boat. pl

[Tyler]

"Oddball promotions".

Hah yes. I had a squad leader who got his stripes after his 90 day stint on suicide watch. Another was an FO who couldn't guide the Sergeant Major through call for fire during his sergeant's board.

When I was in the Army liked to use the promise of promotion as a stick to convince people to re enlist. The stick was they would sit on your orders otherwise. Great forward thinking policy there.

[The Twisted Genius]

pl,

While at Fort Devens, I had the duty of escorting a group of those Permanent Associate professors for a week of "regreening" as it was called. I didn't know what to expect. For some reason, I thought they would be a bunch of rank conscious, protocol sticklers. I was dreading the duty, but I was pleasantly surprised when they turned out to be amiable, down to earth college professors. I should have figured it out when West Point thought they had to be "regreened" with the real Army. It turned out to be an enjoyable week with great conversations and many laughs.

[oofda]

Apparently Bergdahl had gone out over the wall at least once before- and his unit didn't do anything about it. That is according to reports on an AR15-6 held after he was captured. Why nothing was done is another question, which reflects on the unit. If he had gone out before and come back, it will be difficult to prove desertion, which requires the intent to go away permenently. Add to that the issue of mental capacity- doubtful if the resultant Army investigation will result in a GCM.

http://www.armytimes.com/article/20140603/NEWS05/306030078/Sources-Bergdahl-may-walked-off-base-more-than-once

[turcopolier]

TTG

"...a bunch of rank conscious, protocol sticklers." Let me assure you that there are many of those in the facukty at USMA. pl

[Fred]

Tyler,

Yes, we had one of those too. An E5 electrician's mate. Managed to burn up a AC/DC motor generator every time he did the rebrushing maintenance. Our XO had the brilliant idea of asking him to transfer to another ship in the squadron that needed an EM1.

What a nice way to solve your problem - saddle another command with a dead beat and give him a promotion to boot. They had a ship board fire about 6 months later while doing ORSE workup. Sadly for all involved they not only managed to almost sink themselves but did so while the squadron commander, a rear admiral, was on board as an observer. Not a good carreer move for any involved.

[Edward Amame]

There's now a second NY Times story that calls into question some of the stuff that the media clown shows on CNN, Joe Scar, Fox, etc have been pushing. It's based on a report with interviews conducted at the time of his disappearance.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/06/world/asia/bowe-bergdahl-walked-away-before-military-report-says.html?hp&_r=0

[Charles I]

Nothing to do with rank per se, but a fond memory.

I recall during my early infatuation with our dear movie reviewer finding a photo & bio of, I think it was General AF at the VMA website.

Upon a dose of my usual, albeit surprised, sycophancy, his response was "Well I'm a General the way your ass chew gum". Now I also think of him as set in STT, ready, steady with a goofy grin but all erudite like underneath.

Cheers to Unlucky Mountain.

[Charles I]

Fred, giving away "turkeys" for
thanksgiving is a universal human practice, and it is a huge part of the private sector HR business, bu there its not as consequential as in a closed loop.

[Tyler]

Uh how exactly does it call into question anything?

[Fred]

Charles I,

Very, very true. I'm busy in the private sector right now covering a bunch of A**es so they can get their bonus. Though it's about time for me to do some real job hunting. 8 degree winters have taken their toll. Last week's hiking in the Shennandoah is having a similar affect.

[Fred]

Charles I,

you should surf the web a bit more and see it you can find a copy of the commencement speech he gave once upon a time. Well worth the read.

[Nobody]

If the army does nothing in vain, and I was bound not to judge things lightly, this is what I would say:

- He probably was an intelligence officer, hence the E5 cert with no visible merits, probably they couldn't be disclosed.

- He probably abandoned his post, and went missing to have a credible background history, as part of a infiltration / desertion plot.

But heh, I am nobody, what would I know.

[The Twisted Genius]

Tyler,

The late 70's was the time of the hollow Army. Our rifle platoons could only muster 25 to 30 strong. Getting some "deserving" soldier out of the Army was exceedingly difficult. One of the steps was the rehab transfer. Our brigade commander, Colonel Nathan Vail, would bark that the only reason a soldier wouldn't perform was poor leadership. Thus, once a soldier received an Article 15 or two, he would be rehab transferred to another battalion for a fresh start.

The first one I got was amazingly successful. As a reward, I became the repository for the transfers from two other battalions in the brigade. It made it easier to keep the crew served weapons manned, but it left me praying for field time. These pirates had too much initiative and cunning to be left in garrison for long. But that initiative and cunning made them great, if sometimes unorthodox, field soldiers. The battalion used my platoon like a second scout platoon and we were always the DLIC.

I couldn't get away from rehab transfers. When I ran the RECONDO School, BG Arthur Brown flew in one day to ask me if I was willing to take a master sergeant who was reduced to staff sergeant for striking a major as one of my instructors. I already knew this NCO and of the incident. I told BG Brown that I knew that NCO to be a good and capable NCO and added that if a major in this man's Army could't keep his own face from caving it, the major was the one who had the problem. The General smiled, shook my hand and sent my new instructor to my compound the next morning. He was a great instructor, of course.

[turcopolier]

Nobody

You are right. you know nothing and have seen too many movies. pl

[Tyler]

Ttg,

Sounds like a world of difference between the jokes I saw getting promoted versus the rogues' gallery you put into action .

I wish we had something like the RECONDO school in my current occupation. The more I read about it the more it fits like a hand in a glove.