Said it before, Harris could have selected a winner of the Congressional Medal Honor as her running mate and @okeechobee as well as almost all of the other members of the Cult of the Donald who have criticized Walz would still be supporting the draft dodger who disparaged veterans and ridiculed Vietnam veterans through his feeble attempt at humor by saying that avoid STDs was his personal Vietnam.
I've have not seen the military let people out of those commitments to retire. To do it, it would require someone pulling some significant strings. Services will not even process your paperwork if you still have obligated service. That is not even touching on the moral issue of keeping your word to your unit and the young service members you lead. There is a very big difference between serving your soldiers in a combat zone and serving them as a Congressman. I would not consider them comparable as you suggest. More importantly, having a new CSM know a combat deployment is coming up and then quit on the Bn is mind boggling to me. That is the SEL that all your enlisted members look up to. If I was the CO of that Bn, I would be extremely upset. I'm not sure I would refer to their service as honorable within the Bn if they they did that. It would also require me to have to explain to a bunch of E-3/4's why the E-9 does not have to go but they do. That likely have a big impact on morale at the start of the mobilization, which is the exact opposite of what you want.
Let’s not paint an overly idealistic view of the relationship between a CSM and the soldiers in his/her unit. He is not making any personal promises to them and rarely even talking to them. You see the CSM once in awhile. We are both officers, but I was prior enlisted. Not sure if you were as well. Ain’t nobody worried about or looking up to the CSM like that. Maybe a handful. You spend most of your time avoiding them. And yes, the military let’s people out if those obligations if you have a compelling reason. Getting elected to public office is a no-brainer.
Very well articulated and you didn’t even touch on the stolen valor stuff, which makes it all that much more dishonorable.
In the reserves, if you take a CSM job, you are committing to that for at least two years. Walz was morally and administratively obligated to serve that amount of time in the Bn. And yes, having your CSM quit on the Bn ahead of a mobilization for combat deployment is a very big deal. Especially back in the '05/'06 time frame when there was a very high Op Tempo with lots of deployments. Not sure if you were around for that but I was. A lot of people were looking for reasons to get out of the deployment back then. It's not like today where reserve units are hoping for a deployment. I get that you think his decision was justified. Having served in the reserves during that time frame and knowing what it was like, I would strongly disagree. I would also disagree with your characterization of a CSM at the Bn level. Good ones are worth their weight in gold.
And it won't make a difference. This only matters to a relatively small number of people in the veteran community that are open to voting for Harris/Walz.
There's no data showing VP choices affect presidential elections that said, JD Vance is reinforcing the Trump brand and he knows how to handle reporters
I agree with this, but don’t underestimate how this might play to non-service member families. To them, the stolen valor stuff probably matters more than Walz deserting his unit prior to deployment. All you have to do is look at the MSM’s effort to whitewash the whole thing to know it matters to more than just a handful of voters. Otherwise, the media wouldn’t spend their precious time on it.
I think the number of people that this issue will impact their vote is relatively small and mainly reside in the veterans community. I think plenty of vets and military will vote for Harris/Walz. I think this issue only plays with the double haters that may have been open to voting for Harris/Walz. Apparently Walz's former BN Commander has spoken out and confirmed most of what was in the paid letter.
On August 5th, 2004 he was photographed holding a sign at a protest outside a President Bush campaign rally in southern Minnesota. On September 17th, 2004 he was conditionally promoted to Command Sergeant Major. The conditions had been outlined to him when he was counseled and he signed the Statement of Agreement and Certification. If the conditions are not met, the promotion is null and void, like it never happened. In early 2005, a warning order was issued to the 1-125th Field Artillery Battalion, which included the position he was serving in, to prepare to be mobilized for active duty for a deployment to Iraq. On May 16th, 2005 he quit, leaving the 1-125th Field Artillery Battalion and its Soldiers hanging; without its senior Non-Commissioned Officer, as the battalion prepared for war.
