Freed Taliban captive Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl reportedly returns to active duty

Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, released in May after five years as a Taliban prisoner of war in Afghanistan, will return to active duty Monday, The New York Times reported. According to the newspaper, the move is intended to further aid his return to living in the U.S.  

Bergdahl’s return from Afghanistan was fraught with controversy, as fellow soldiers accused him of desertion, saying the initial search for the sergeant led to the deaths of U.S. troops. An Army investigation into the circumstances of Bergdahl’s capture continues.

Defense Department officials told the Times that Bergdahl completed a round of therapy and that he will take an assignment at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio. He is slated to meet soon with the investigator of his disappearance, Maj. Gen. Kenneth R. Dahl.

Bergdahl’s release came as part of a swap for five Taliban leaders held by the U.S. at Guantánamo Bay. The five are now living in Qatar, the Gulf emirate that helped broker the deal. 

Meanwhile, Bergdahl, as an outpatient at an Army hospital, had been going to stores and restaurants in the San Antonio area, an Army spokeswoman Arwen Consaul told Reuters last week. “To my knowledge, he has not had any negative experiences so far,” she said.

The Army’s probe into his disappearance is set to end in mid-August.

Al Jazeera and Reuters