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| Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl |
Bowe Bergdahl, the army sergeant who has been recovering in Germany after five years as a Taliban captive, has returned to the US to continue his medical treatment.
Pentagon spokesman Navy Rear Adm John Kirby said Bergdahl was flown to Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio from Ramstein airbase.
While at the Texas army base, Bergdahl "will continue the next phase of his reintegration process", Kirby said, adding there was no timeline for the process. "Our focus remains on his health and wellbeing."
The spokesman said in a statement that the US defence secretary, Chuck Hagel, was "confident that the army will continue to ensure that Sgt Bergdahl receives the care, time and space he needs to complete his recovery and reintegration".
Bergdahl, who is from Idaho, was expected to be reunited with his family in San Antonio. He was captured in Afghanistan in June 2009 and released by the Taliban on 31 May in a deal struck by the Obama administration in which five senior Taliban officials were released from detention at Guantánamo Bay.
Before his departure from Germany on Thursday, officials in Washington said Bergdahl would not receive the automatic army promotion that would have taken effect this month if he were still in captivity. Now he is back under US military control, any future promotions would depend on his performance and achievement of certain training and education milestones.
Officials have kept a lid on details of Bergdahl's condition out of concern that he not be rushed back into the public spotlight after a lengthy period in captivity and amid apublic uproar over the circumstances of his capture and release.
Officials also said on Thursday that the army had not yet formally begun a new review into the circumstances of Bergdahl's capture and whether he walked away without leave or was deserting the army when he was found and taken by insurgents.
The answers to those questions will be key to whether Bergdahl will receive more than $300,000 (£180,000) in back pay owed to him since he disappeared. If he was determined to have been a prisoner of war, he also could receive a further $300,000 or more, if recommended and approved by army leaders.
Read the full story: www.theguardian.com
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