Bowe Bergdahl Bowe Robert Bergdahl ( born March 28 , 1986 ) is a United States Army soldier who has been in the captivity of the Taliban - aligned Afghanistan Haqqani network since June 2009 . Early life . Bergdahl was born on March 28 , 1986 in Sun Valley , Idaho . Military status and disappearance . Bergdahl was assigned to the 1st Battalion , 501st Infantry Regiment , 4th Brigade Combat Team , 25th Infantry Division , based at Fort Richardson , Alaska . During his unit ' s normal deployment rotation to Afghanistan , he went missing on June 30 , 2009 , near the town of Yahya Khel in the Paktika Province , which is in the south - east of Afghanistan , right on the border to Pakistan . The area in which Bergdahl was captured is right next to Pakistan ' s Federally Administered Tribal Areas . He is believed to be held by the Haqqani network , an insurgent group affiliated with the Taliban , probably somewhere in Pakistan . Since then , the Taliban have released five videos showing him in captivity . The Taliban originally demanded $ 1 million and the release of 21 Afghan prisoners and Aafia Siddiqui in exchange for Bergdahl ' s release . They threatened to execute Bergdahl if Siddiqui was not released . Most of the Afghan prisoners are being held at Guantanamo Bay . The Taliban later reduced its demand to five Taliban prisoners in exchange for Bergdahl ' s release . Bergdahl was a Private First Class ( E - 3 ) when captured . He was promoted to Sergeant ( E - 5 ) on June 17 , 2011 . Capture . On July 18 , 2009 , the Taliban released a video showing the captured Bergdahl . In the video , Bergdahl appeared downcast and frightened . A Department of Defense statement issued on July 19 confirmed that Bergdahl was declared " missing / whereabouts unknown " on July 1 , and his status was changed to " missing / captured " on July 3 . In the 28 - minute video his captors held up his dog tags to establish that the captured man was Bergdahl . Bergdahl gave the date as July 14 and mentioned an attack that occurred that day . Accounts of his capture differ . The version offered by Bergdahl , in the video , is that he was captured when he fell behind on a patrol . CNN , in its report , cites both Taliban and U . S . military sources , the former alleging he was ambushed after becoming drunk off base , and the latter denying that claim stating : " The Taliban are known for lying and what they are claiming ( is ) not true " . Other sources said Bergdahl walked off his base after his shift . A Department of Defense spokesperson , Lieutenant Commander Christine Sidenstricker , said , " I ' m glad to see he appears unharmed , but again , this is a Taliban propaganda video . They are exploiting the soldier in violation of international law . " " According to the Associated Press , General Nabi Mullakheil of the Afghan National Police said the capture occurred in Paktika Province . Their other sources inform them that he was captured by a Taliban group led by Maulvi Sangin , who has moved him to Ghazni Province . " The Guardian " quoted sources who speculated about the increased difficulty of a rescue mission if Bergdahl had been smuggled across the nearby border into Pakistan . CNN described two Pashto - language leaflets the U . S . military was distributing in seeking Bergdahl . One showed a smiling GI shaking hands with Afghan children , with a caption that called him a guest in Afghanistan . The other showed a door being broken down , and threatened that those holding Bergdahl would be hunted down . In December 2009 , five months after Bergdahl ' s disappearance , the media arm of the Afghan Taliban announced the release of a new video of " a U . S . soldier captured in Afghanistan " , titled " One of Their People Testified " . In the announcement the Taliban did not name the American , but the only U . S . soldier known to be in captivity is Bergdahl . U . S . military officials have been searching for Bergdahl , but it is not publicly known whether he is even being held in Afghanistan or in neighboring Pakistan , an area off - limits to U . S . forces based in Afghanistan . On December 25 , another video was released that shows Bergdahl in a combat uniform and helmet . He described his place of birth , deployment to Afghanistan and subsequent capture . He then made several statements regarding his humane treatment by his captors , contrasting this to the abuses suffered by insurgents in prisons . He finished by saying that America should not be in Afghanistan and that its presence there is just another Vietnam . On April 7 , 2010 , the Taliban released a third video of Bergdahl , now with a full head of hair and a beard , pleading for the release of Afghan prisoners held at Guantanamo and Bagram . In November 2010 , Bergdahl appeared briefly in a fourth video . In May 2011 , Bergdahl appeared briefly in a fifth video . In December 2011 , it was reported that Bergdahl tried to escape three months earlier but was recaptured after three days . In June 2013 , Bergdahl ' s parents received a letter from him through the Red Cross . Threat of reprisal . On February 4 , 2010 , the Afghan Taliban demanded the release of Aafia Siddiqui , a Pakistani scientist who was convicted by a U . S . court on charges of attempting to murder U . S . soldiers in Afghanistan , and threatened to execute Bergdahl if their demand was not met . The Taliban claimed that members of Siddiqui ' s family had requested their assistance . Reports of joining the Taliban . Fox News reported in August 2010 that a Taliban commander named Haji Nadeem said Bergdahl was helping to train the Taliban in bomb making and infantry tactics . The Pentagon dismissed the reports as Taliban propaganda . Release efforts . The missing serviceman ' s fate is tied up in U . S . efforts to broker a peace deal between the Taliban and the Afghan government , a high - level , high - risk diplomatic initiative which appeared to be on the cusp of a breakthrough before the Taliban suspended preliminary talks in March 2012 . For months , U . S . negotiators were seeking to arrange the transfer of five Taliban detainees held at Guantanamo Bay military prison to the Gulf state of Qatar . The transfer was intended as one of a series of confidence - building measures designed to open the door to political talks between the Taliban and Afghan President Hamid Karzai ' s government . That move - at the center of U . S . strategy for ending the long , costly conflict in Afghanistan - was also supposed to lead directly to Bowe ' s release . The Taliban has consistently called for the United States to release those held at Guantanamo Bay in exchange for freeing Western prisoners . But the Guantanamo transfer proposal , which would have required notification to Congress , ground to a halt when the Taliban rejected U . S . conditions designed to ensure transferred Taliban would not slip away and re - emerge as military leaders . The Obama administration has since become skeptical that any such peace deal with the Taliban will occur before the bulk of NATO forces leave in 2014 .