Article snippet: FORT BRAGG, N.C. — Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who walked off his Army base in Afghanistan in 2009 and was held captive by the Taliban for five years, received no prison time for desertion or endangering troops, but was ordered by a military judge on Friday to be dishonorably discharged from the Army. The sentencing took only minutes in a case where prosecutors had sought 14 years in a military prison. The military judge, Col. Jeffery R. Nance of the Army, also reduced Sergeant Bergdahl’s rank to private and required him to forfeit $1,000 a month of his pay for 10 months. President Trump, who has labeled Sergeant Bergdahl a “dirty rotten traitor,” called Friday’s sentence “a complete and total disgrace to our Country and to our Military.” Colonel Nance did not explain his reasoning for the sentence, which will be reviewed by Gen. Robert B. Abrams, who convened the court-martial and has the power to lessen the punishment. If the final sentence still includes a punitive discharge, it will automatically be reviewed by the United States Army Court of Criminal Appeals. The case has been dogged by politics and controversy from beginning to end. After trading Sergeant Bergdahl for five Taliban detainees in 2014, the Obama administration embraced him, with the national security adviser, Susan E. Rice, even saying he had served with “honor and distinction.” But the prisoner swap, and the sergeant’s portrayal, angered many Republicans. Senator John McCain even threatened to hold a... Link to the full article to read more