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Agents: Bergdahl debriefs were intelligence 'gold mine'

Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl was a "gold mine" of intelligence, helping the military better understand insurgents and how they imprison the enemy, two agents testified Tuesday as defense attorneys sought to show the soldier's contributions since he was returned in a prisoner swap.

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FORT BRAGG, N.C. — Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl was a "gold mine" of intelligence, helping the military better understand insurgents and how they imprison the enemy, two agents testified Tuesday as defense attorneys sought to show the soldier's contributions since he was returned in a prisoner swap.

The testimony runs counterpoint to the case prosecutors presented at Bergdahl's sentencing hearing, calling on severely wounded soldiers to offer gripping testimony about the injuries that troops suffered while searching for Bergdahl after he walked off his post in Afghanistan in 2009.

Bergdahl, who pleaded guilty to desertion and misbehavior before the enemy, testified Monday and apologized to the wounded. He faces up to life in prison. The military judge hearing the case has wide leeway in deciding Bergdahl's punishment.

Amber Dach, who spent 16 years in military intelligence, was the primary analyst assigned to Bergdahl's case for the five years after he disappeared. She described how eager he was to help intelligence officials at a hospital in Germany days after he was returned to U.S. authorities in 2014. Though his voice was weak and raspy, he helped authorities and even drew diagrams in his downtime to bring to his next debriefing session.

"He was very motivated to just downloading all of the details that he recalled," she testified. "It was a gold mine. It really reshaped the way we did intel collection in the area."

An official from the military agency that helps reintegrate former captives and develops survival training for service members testified that information Bergdahl provided him was invaluable.

Terrence Russell, a division chief for the Joint Personnel Recovery Agency, developed a 1,200-page transcript from debriefing Bergdahl that was turned into a database. The information produced reports on tactics used by insurgents and hostage-takers in the region that are still used by the military.

Russell, who wrote the book on survival, evasion, resistance and escape, or SERE training, said he'd like to learn even more from Bergdahl, but the soldier's legal case has impeded that.

"Can you give him to me tomorrow? I need him. I need him now," he said to a defense attorney. "The fact that I can't get that information is wrong. I need that."

He said he'd like to add Bergdahl to a roster of about 30 or so Gulf War-era military captives who can provide videos or lectures to service members on captivity in recent conflicts.

"We don't have very many examples coming out of Afghanistan," he said, adding that such information could save American lives.

He also reaffirmed previous statements that Bergdahl's captivity was worse than any American prisoner of war has experienced since the Vietnam era.

Bergdahl, 31, of Hailey, Idaho, has described the brutal conditions he faced, including beatings with copper wire and unending bouts of gastrointestinal problems brought on by squalid conditions. He was forced to live in his own filth and eat food off the floor, and he received very little medical attention. He said he was kept in a cage for four out of the five years in captivity after several escape attempts, and his muscles became so weak he could barely stand or walk.

Lt. Col. Alan Larsen testified that Bergdahl now suffers from neuropathy in his feet and lower body, making it painful for him to walk or use his feet in activities such as driving a car. Under cross-examination, however, Larsen said that, with a proper diet and exercise, Bergdahl could handle manual labor for the next 40 or 50 years without difficulty.

Gregory Leatherman, Bergdahl's platoon sergeant in Afghanistan, described him as an outstanding soldier, but he noted that Bergdahl had a tough time adjusting to life in Afghanistan, and he wanted to refer him to counseling from an Army chaplain or someone from Combat Stress Services.

Bergdahl was brought home by President Barack Obama in 2014 in a swap for five Taliban prisoners at Guantanamo Bay. Obama said at the time the U.S. does not leave its service members on the battlefield. Republicans roundly criticized Obama, and Donald Trump went further while campaigning for president, repeatedly calling Bergdahl a "dirty, rotten traitor" who deserved to be executed by firing squad or thrown out of a plane without a parachute.

The sentencing hearing is expected to conclude this week, with Nance handing down a sentence as early as next week.

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