DOD Seeks Captured Army Sergeant’s Return

By Karen Parrish

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON  – The Defense Department is doing everything possible to secure the return of an Army sergeant who has been in Taliban hands for nearly three years, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta said today.

During a Pentagon press conference, Panetta responded to questions about Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, whose parents have spoken with reporters this week about their son’s captivity.

The secretary said his heart goes out to the Bergdahl family.

“We certainly understand the concerns of the family, and we share the concerns about Bergdahl and the importance of getting him returned,” Panetta said. “And we're doing everything possible to try to see if we can make that happen.”

Bergdahl, 26, from Hailey, Idaho, has been missing since June 30, 2009, when his unit in Afghanistan noted his absence from roll-call. Bergdahl, who was a private first class when he was captured, is assigned to 1st Battalion, 501st Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Fort Richardson, Alaska. The Army has promoted him twice during his captivity. Bergdahl is the only U.S. service member known to be in enemy captivity.

Asked whether Bergdahl’s return hinges on the release of some detainees now held at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility in Cuba, the secretary said his position on transfers hasn’t changed.

“I would only take [steps to transfer detainees] in accordance with the law and the requirements of the law, and at this stage, frankly, there are no decisions that have been made with regards to that,” Panetta said.

Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at the same press conference that he has met with members of the sergeant’s family in his office and has corresponded with family members several times.

“I understand their concerns. And I can assure you that we are doing everything in our power using our intelligence resources across the government to try to find [him],” the general said.

“I'll give you one vignette,” he added. “If you go to the [U.S. Central Command] command center … conference room, there's [a] four-by-six foot poster of Bowe Bergdahl sitting in front of the podium to remind them, and therefore us, every day that he remains missing in action. I can assure you of that.”

Officers Describe al Qaeda Prison Rescue Mission

By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

May 30, 2007 – Officers from the U.S. Army battalion that freed 41 prisoners from an al Qaeda in Iraq hideout May 27 provided details on the operation yesterday. U.S. and Iraqi soldiers were conducting operations in a town south of Baqubah when a local man approached them with information about the prison, Army Lt. Col. Morris Goins, commander of the 1st Cavalry Division's 1st Battalion, 12th Cavalry, told reporters in a teleconference from Iraq's Diyala province.

Goins said he assigned D Company of the unit, commanded by Army Capt. Paul Carlock, to check out the report. As the unit approached, the soldiers encountered 41 Iraqis who had been held by al Qaeda in Iraq, Goins said. "They showed some signs of torture," the colonel said. "We brought them back to an attack position, where we were able to give them some water, some food."

The unit then took the men to a combat outpost, where they received medical attention. The American and Iraqi units killed seven al Qaeda fighters in the operation and detained another 30, Goins said.

Carlock said some of the men, mostly Sunnis, had lash marks on their backs and rope burns on their wrists and ankles. Some had been held as long as four months. He said their main diet was figs and water.

One of the freed prisoners was a 13-year-old boy, Goins said, but most were provincial government workers and local merchants. Some Shiia hostages had been held at the prison, but al Qaeda had killed them all, the colonel added.

Goins and Carlock both said the operation shows that the local people are tired of al Qaeda in their communities. The coalition and Iraqi government forces are trying to drive a wedge between the terrorists and the population.

"We try to every day meet with local Iraqi leaders and then also leaders of the tribes," Carlock said.

This contact, the officers said, helps to widen the division between the insurgents and the local population and allows the forces to develop intelligence sources.

"We have more sources today than we had yesterday and the day before that," Goins said. "So it's a growing and increased basis of intelligence coming in to both the Iraqi security forces and the coalition forces."

Goins said he hopes liberating the prison will have a positive effect on the attitude of the local citizens.

"If I were a local Iraqi and I would see that 41 Iraqi citizens were detained by al Qaeda, coalition forces helped secure their freedom, provided medical attention, were able to get them back to their family, it would show me that the international and the coalition forces are here to assist the Iraqi people and (would) live a peaceful life," he said.

He added that he hopes the 41 people freed in the operation and now back with their families will pass along their experiences to their friends and relatives.

"That will ensure that the Iraqi people understand that the Iraqi security forces as well as coalition forces are here to provide security with their assistance to allow them to have a democratic government and live a peaceful existence as the majority of the international community does," he said.

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