The Army has opened an investigation into the circumstances surrounding Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl's disappearance and abduction by the Taliban from a base in Afghanistan in 2009, officials announced Monday.
Two-star Maj. Gen. Kenneth R. Dahl, an officer with Afghanistan combat experience will lead the investigation, the Army said in a statement.
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Some of Bergdahl's fellow soldiers have called the former detainee a deserter, who knowingly wandered from their base, leading to his capture.
Bergdahl was freed from captivity on May 31 in a controversial exchange for five Taliban commanders who were being held at the Guantanamo Bay military detention facility in Cuba.
He was first treated at a U.S. military hospital in Germany, before he arrived back in the U.S. on Friday to continue his reintegration process.
Dahl will scrutinize evidence surrounding Bergdahl's disappearance, but he won't be interviewed until the reintegration team approves "such interaction," the Army said. "The Army's top priority remains Sgt. Bergdahl's health and reintegration," the statement said.
The Army pointed out that investigations of this type are not uncommon. A completion goal date has not been set.
