versus sergeant robert b. bergdahl. the military judge discussed the rights held by the accused, inquired on the record regarding current military counsel and civilian counsel. sergeant bergdahl indicated he was satisfied with his defense counsel. the judge explained sergeant bergdahl s right to be tried before a panel or a military judge. the judge also inquired if sergeant bergdahl wished to enter any motions or a plea at this time. sergeant bergdahl deferred all of these decisions to a later hearing. colonel frederickson also announced army colonel jeffrey r nance has been for all further hearings and the next date for hearing will be january 12, 2016, here on ft. bragg. this concludes our statement.
thank you. that was colonel daniel king of army public affairs talking about the initial court appearance by army sergeant bowe bergdahl on these charges of desertion and also putting his colleagues in danger right now. happened a little more than an hour ago. let s get over to nick valencia. he was in the courtroom during this appearance. he s on the phone with us now. nick, tell us a little more about what we ve learned here from the colonel, what you saw and heard in the courtroom. reporter: good morning, kate. it was a relatively brief arraignment. we expected it to be very expeditious and that s what we got. it was ten minutes in total the arraignment lasted. bergdahl walked in with his eyes downcast. his head was shaved so short you can see a small scar on the right side of his head. also interestingly enough, there were some hash marks on his right sleeve, which we re told by a military source represents
each six months that a soldier is deployed in an active war zone. i mentioned he was dressed in his military attire. clean-shaven. he said nothing. just had a few whispers with his co-counsel, defense counsel, as he waited for the judge. once the judge got into the courtroom, about 10:01, the arraignment was very fast. the judge asked him a series of questions to which bergdahl responded, sir, yes, sir. he deferred to enter his plea. he deferred, as you heard the colonel say, whether or not he wanted a judge a trial, i should say, by a judge or a trial by a jury of his peers. part of this entire controversy is the type of court-martial is he facing. preliminary hearing, the presiding officer recommended a special court-martial that would have carried a maximum one year in custody but top brass at the army had a different idea. they decided not to follow the recommendation and they pursued these charges against him. one is desertion and the other is misbehavior in front of the enemy,