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Article snippet: FORT BRAGG, N.C. — Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who walked off his base in eastern Afghanistan in 2009, setting off a huge military manhunt and a political furor, pleaded guilty on Monday to desertion and to endangering the American troops sent to search for him. The guilty pleas by Sergeant Bergdahl, a 31-year-old Idaho native now stationed at an Army base in San Antonio, were not part of any deal with prosecutors. It will be up to an Army judge here at Fort Bragg to decide the sergeant’s punishment, following testimony at a hearing that is scheduled to begin next week. The desertion charge carries a potential five-year sentence, and the charge of endangering troops — formally known as misbehavior before the enemy — carries a potential life sentence. In a military courtroom here on Monday morning, Sergeant Bergdahl stood before the judge, Col. Jeffery A. Nance, and described his actions as inexcusable. “You just walked away?” Colonel Nance asked him. “Yes, sir,” Sergeant Bergdahl replied. “Unfortunately, I got lost in my first 20 minutes.” Sergeant Bergdahl has previously said that he had intended to walk from his unit’s outpost to a larger base about 18 miles away, in order to report what he felt were leadership problems in his unit. He said he wanted to cause a major stir, to ensure that he received an audience with a high-ranking officer. But he told Judge Nance on Monday that he never meant to set off the manhunt that followed his disappearance. “At the time, I had n... Link to the full article to read more