More than a month after he was released from captivity, Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl may return to active duty on Monday, according to multiple media reports.
CNN and the New York Times each cited unnamed officials at the Defense Department, who said that Bergdahl has completed his therapy at an Army hospital in San Antonio, Texas.
According to the Times, the POW will start a job at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio and is expected to meet with Maj. Gen. Kenneth R. Dahl, who is leading the Army’s investigation of Bergdahl’s 2009 disappearance.
Bergdahl reportedly wandered off his post in Afghanistan that year and the circumstances surrounding his disappearance have fueled some of the intense criticism he’s faced since he was released in late-May as part of a prisoner swap.
Several former members of Bergdahl’s platoon have branded him a deserter and asserted that the manhunt that followed his disappearance led to the deaths of U.S. soldiers.
Most of the scrutiny directed at Bergdahl and his family has come from Republicans and conservatives. During Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel’s appearance before the House Armed Services Committee last month, Rep. Jeff Miller (R-FL) raised suspicions about Bergdahl’s medical status.
At the time, the solder was still undergoing treatment at a U.S. military hospital in Germany.
“Why hasn’t he been returned to the United States?” Miller pressed. “We have seriously wounded soldiers that are returned to the United States almost immediately after they are stabilized.”
Hagel pushed back forcefully, telling the congressman he didn’t “like the implication of the question.”
Bergdahl returned to the United States roughly a day after the hearing.
