Officials with Brooke Army Medical Center Friday afternoon offered a glimpse into the reintegration process that lays ahead for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who has been the subject of controversy since his May 31 release from the Taliban in exchange for five high-level prisoners from Guantanamo.
Bergdahl is in San Antonio for the final phase of reintegration back into a stable life, including professional, family, and community activities, with as few complications as possible.
Col. Bradley Poppen, who directs the reintegration program at BAMC, said it can be a long process even to relearn fundamental activities of everyday life.
"Every one of us decided what to put on today, what to have for breakfast, where we were going for lunch," Poppen said. "Those decision-making processes have been fundamentally removed from him. He was told what to eat, when to eat, where to eat, when to go to the bathroom, all those sorts of things. So one of the concepts is to get him to having the sense of predictability and control of his environment."
BAMC is the military’s headquarters for the reintegration program. It is designed around four key areas of support including: medical care, psychological support, debriefings and family support. The officers read a brief statement from Bergdahl’s family asking for privacy at this time.
