Assuming this account by the New York Times is correct, I find it incomprehensible, a blow to military discipline and troop cohesion.

The general who led the Army’s investigation into the disappearance of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl from his remote outpost in Afghanistan in 2009 said on Friday that sentencing the sergeant to prison would be “inappropriate.”

Maj. Gen. Kenneth R. Dahl, who interviewed 57 witnesses during his 59-day investigation, testified that Sergeant Bergdahl had unreasonable, or even delusional, expectations about his deployment to Afghanistan and about the soldiers in his unit and his command.

But General Dahl testified that he found Sergeant Bergdahl truthful during the day and a half he spent interviewing him as part of the investigation. General Dahl also said that Sergeant Bergdahl had shown remorse about how his decision to leave his base could have endangered others in his platoon.

“I do not believe there is a jail sentence at the end of this procedure,” General Dahl said. “I think it would be inappropriate.”