After looking at the explanation...I’d put it in this prospective.
You get into issues in west Memphis...no car...no gun....and you have to walk through the heart of Memphis and travel by foot to six miles east of city-center....a twelve-mile walk, after dark. What are the odds you will be alive by tomorrow morning? Why would you do such a stupid thing?
In a civilian court, it might be convincing to half the jury members and at least get you an acquittal. This is a jury composed of military members who’ve all done combat duty (it’ll be impossible to find a jury without that experience). These guys simply won’t believe the story.
The gimmick to this....Bergdahl’s lawyer wants to spend two or three weeks just talking about the unit, it’s morale, it’s commander and it’s negatives. The case is about a guy who put his gun down, walked out of camp, and asked for directions to the Taliban. As long as the judge keeps the case focused on that....this long fraudulent discussion over the unit won’t occur.
If he’d walked out of the camp with a rifle...things would be different and he could use this fake defense strategy to a minor degree.
I read on another posting that Bergdahl actually sent all his civilian clothe home before going AWOL. If so he must have been expecting a long separation from any furloughs. The guy and his parents are Muslim to the top of their heads. Of course with a CinC who apparently likes to pat down a Muslim mama ‘what difference does it make’.