Ex-Navy SEAL: Searchers at risk looking for Bergdahl
Witnesses recall search efforts during sentencing hearing
FORT BRAGG, N. C. A former Navy SEAL who helped lead a search for Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl after the soldier deserted his Afghanistan post said Wednesday he knew that Americans would be killed or hurt in trying to find him.
He went anyway, even though he knew Bergdahl had “walked off his post,” James Hatch said at a punishment hearing for Bergdahl. Asked why, Hatch replied, “He’s an American.”
“It’s really something I never questioned,” he said.
Hatch, a former senior chief petty officer, was shot in the leg during the mission that was launched about a week after Bergdahl abandoned his outpost in Afghanistan in 2009.
Bergdahl, 31, pleaded guilty last week to charges of desertion and misbehavior before the enemy. He faces a potential life sentence on the misbehavior charge. He was captured by the Taliban and held for five years.
Now, as an Army judge weighs a possible punishment, Bergdahl has been facing a series of witnesses who talked about the consequences of leaving his post.
They described frantic search efforts in the days and weeks following Bergdahl’s disappearance. Surveillance aircraft, helicopters and additional manpower all joined in the search.
Planning was often done hastily and the pace of operations and risks increased sharply for most units.
“The only time you slept was when you couldn’t stay conscious anymore,” said Col. Clint Baker, who was Bergdahl’s battalion commander at the time of his disappearance.
One platoon was patrolling for 37 days straight and had to have fresh T-shirts and socks sent to them, Baker said. The ones they had rotted away.
“Everybody was out looking,” Baker said.
Helicopters came under fire, and pilots were in the cockpits for hours at a time as the military cast an ever wider net in their search. John White, a retired colonel who served as a commander of an aviation unit at the time, said he spent 13 hours in the cockpit in the first day of searching.
“We just did what we had to do,” White said.
Commanders believed that whoever had Bergdahl would attempt to get him out of the immediate area, so time was critical. The disappearance triggered a massive manhunt that diverted resources from other parts of the war.
Extra surveillance aircraft, helicopters and manpower were hurried into the search, often meaning that normal operations against the Taliban or to build security in villages was put on hold.
“Everyone in Afghanistan was looking for Bergdahl,” said Capt. John Billings, who was Bergdahl’s platoon leader.
Hatch’s elite unit, which nor- mally conducted raids against “high value targets,” was assigned a mission to rescue Bergdahl based on intelligence about his whereabouts.
As soon as Hatch was told by an intelligence officer about the mission, he said he knew Americans would be killed or hurt in trying to rescue him.
The team came under immediate fire as they were descending toward a place where they were told Bergdahl might be held. It was not clear whether he was there, but the area was filled with militants and civilians.
Hatch said he saw tracer fire streaming toward the helicopters.
Civilians, including children, were also running around the area. Hatch described carrying two young children to safety.
He became emotional when he talked about a service dog, Remco, who was shot in the head and killed by a militant during the attempted rescue mission.
Bergdahl’s team leader at the time, Evan Buetow, described the sense of urgency to find him. “My guy was gone,” Buetow said, putting his head in his hands and reaching for a box of tissues.
More testimony is scheduled for Thursday.