On June 30, 2009, Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl left his unit in Paktika Province in southeastern Afghanistan. Walking alone, he was soon captured by Taliban fighters, who held him prisoner for nearly five years.

After his release as part of a prisoner exchange arranged by President Obama in May 2014, questions arose about Bergdahl’s motivations for leaving, and his susceptibility to accusations of desertion and “misbehavior before the enemy,” the latter a diluted charge of defection.

In recent proceedings comparable to a civilian grand jury, prosecutors alleged that members of Bergdahl’s unit assigned to a seven-week search for their missing comrade were subjected to considerable discomfort and exposure to enemy attack. As a result, Bergdahl faces charges that could put him in prison for life.