I knew they were shipping everybody they could get their hands on there much earlier, but I somehow thought that practice had ended.

(One) answer lies in the Coast Guard’s reputation for keen attention to detail with paperwork, packing, customs and hazardous-materials shipping and storage — their ability to continually ship containers across oceans without frustration issues. Based on this expertise, Army officials requested the Coast Guard’s help with redeploying and sealifting their gear.____


another take: http://www.dvidshub.net/news/82321/coast-guard-raids-afghanistan-look-raid-team-and-does#.U4s6RnbDWHk



Coast Guardsman Petty Officer 2nd Class Albertico Vargas of the United States Coast Guard Redeployment Assistance and Inspection Detachment Team 13 climbs on top of a container in Helmand province, Afghanistan. Vargas, a native of Philadelphia, checks to the top of the container for seaworthiness and structural integrity before sending the container back to the United States.

the Rolling Stone article (written by Michael Hastings in 2012)

"Frankly, we don't give a shit why he left," says one White House official. "He's an American soldier. We want to bring him home."


http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/americas-last-prisoner-of-war-20120607

. . .

...but since when does a PFC who fucks up creating an enormous problem not just for his command, but also for the entire military including the Commander in Chief, get not just one, but two ranks of promotion?? I would like a hearing into exactly how he "came to be" in Taliban captivity.

. . . to me, questions like that, at this point, are moot.

Five years in captivity is more than enough to amend for whatever mistake he might have made. Anyone who spends their time hounding this fellow about his responsibility in that capture needs to address all of that to the ones who put him in harm's way. They don't appear to have a problem with this soldier - not his commanders, and not the CIC.

The suggestion by some that he should be held responsible for his capture in some sort of court martial are angling to add insult to injury. Moreover, griping about the circumstances of his capture (and his release) is the entirety of the rabid right-wing argument in the wake of the news of the exchange.

You're not going to find many folks here who abhor the destabilizing and counterproductive occupation of Afghanistan worrying over whether he left the base on his own volition or griping over whether he received promotions.

More than just a few have questioned the dissapearance over the last 5 years.
His fellow soldiers that were attacked in the area he dissapeared in )http://articles.latimes.com/2009/jul/05/world/fg-afghanistan5) and patrols
attacked in the search for him took casualties. If he was a disgruntled walk-away
deserter that got fellow soldiers killed/wounded because of his actions there should
be some answers forthcoming to the mothers of the other soldiers killed since you
will never see the same smile on their faces that bowes mother exhibits. The truth is
so elusive lately, maybe it can make an appearance this time.

. . . let's say that the mouth-breathers who have infected the internet with their croc tears about the troops who put their lives at risk to help rescue him are correct that he voluntarily left the base.

Is this American somehow less worthy of the effort to get him released - was he not worth rescuing?

btw, you don't have anymore facts surrounding his capture than the rest of the internet gossipers. This article you posted a link to says that troops were operating in the same area where the soldier disappeared; says NOTHING about these troops injured or killed in the ATTACK on their BASE being actually involved in a 'search' for the Sgt, and merely that a search was underway.

If you're going to kick this soldier's name and reputation around the internet, you can at least present facts and not chicken-shit innuendo like what you posted here.

It is absolutely clear that if he was with his unit on patrol and was captured, it should have been noted and documented even before the unit returned to base.Failure to notice a soldier was missing during the patrol by the unit leader would be cause for military punishment. That leaves documentation also.

All the higher command is saying "Lets let bygones be bygones...". This tells me THEY have cards their not showing, and I'd like to know what they are.

The soldier is home but we don't know the truth and we deserve to.

did whatever he could to survive. That's why I favor him being traded, instead of a big risky rescue. Don't discount the fact that he was there for at least six months prior to capture and may have been suffering some mental/emotional issues related to combat.

have him recovered? Google Duncan Hunter Jr. and his letters last winter demanding the DoD take charge of the Bergdahl affair to get him home. All of a sudden, the day he's released, the GOP publicly declares he wasn't worth giving up Taliban members. What a sick, twisted bunch of fuckers, right? Right? Bergdahl was a goofball, but he's an American soldier and POW, and the three Repub-favored options for getting him back were probably thus: Let the Taliban keep him or "dispose" of him while bashing Obama for not getting him home. Special Ops rescue mission, in which the Repubs would trash Obama for risking Special Forces to free this guy (bonus if we actually lost some servicemen). Screech about any successful prisoner swap and work 24/7 to bash the soldier in question and act like his "wandering off" was brand new info just come to light. Which do you choose?

you get promoted automatically to the next rank (in the lower ranks, anyway), unless you are unfit for promotion. I believe DoD policy is to allow this for POW's.

of the warmongers.

bush cheney rumsfeld rice the right wing media