Bergdahl leaves Germany for Texas

WASHINGTON - Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who has been recovering in Germany after five years as a Taliban captive, is returning to the United States on Friday, but he will not receive the promotion that would have been automatic had he still been held prisoner.

Rear Adm. John Kirby, Pentagon press secretary, said Thursday that Bergdahl had left Germany on board a U.S. military aircraft and was expected to arrive at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas, early Friday.

A U.S. official, meanwhile, said the promotion list, which would have boosted Bergdahl to staff sergeant, was expected to be released this week and he would not be on it.

Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the Associated Press last week that the promotion would no longer be automatic because Bergdahl is now free and any promotion would be based on routine duty requirements, such as proper levels of training and education as well as job performance.

The U.S. official said medical personnel had determined that Bergdahl was ready to move on to the third phase of his reintegration process, which would happen at Brooke. The official was not authorized to provide details about Bergdahl's promotion by name and spoke Thursday on condition of anonymity.

Officials had previously said the intention was for Bergdahl to be reunited with his family at Brooke and to spend an undetermined period there in further recuperation.

Officials have kept a lid on details of Bergdahl's condition and his travel plans out of concern that he not be rushed back into the public spotlight after a lengthy period in captivity and amid a public uproar over the circumstances of his capture and release.

Bergdahl was released from Taliban captivity on May 31 and had been at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany since June 1.

Many have criticized the Obama administration for agreeing to release five Taliban prisoners from detention at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in exchange for Bergdahl.