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The veteran killed himself in 2007, more than two years after the Montana unit returned to the states. Apparently, the man died about the time Walsh’s paper was due, so the tragedy is being used as an excuse for his plagiarism.

BTW, the paper was only 14 pages in length and, as a former adjunct instructor at both Air Command and Staff College and the Air War College, it’s a safe bet the assignment was posted weeks in advance. With better time management, Walsh could have easily completed the paper without copying whole sections from the work of other authors.

Walsh reminds me of a few senior officers I’ve met in the guard (and on active duty as well). Paraphrasing the late Chuck Colson, they would run over their grandmother—and anyone else—to reach flag rank. And if Walsh hadn’t been caught pressuring soldiers to join the National Guard Association (as he sought a senior leadership in the post), he would have reached major general, the typical rank for a state’s adjutant general.

There are many damned good soldiers and airmen in the guard, but there are also a lot of political hacks like Walsh. Unfortunately, they are almost never purged from the ranks.

One of my good friends is a retired Command Sergeant Major from the national guard in a northeastern state. He spent a year in Iraq before leaving the guard and later worked as a security contractor in Iraq and Afghanistan (he was SF earlier in his career).

I remember asking him about a southwestern guard brigade that suffered heavy casualties during their deployment to Afghanistan. When I suggested it was because of their AOR, increased insurgent activity and other factors, the Sgt Maj waved me off. “They weren’t properly trained,” he said. “And that goes back to their leadership.” As far as I know, not a single officer or NCO from that unit was replaced because of what happened in Afghanistan.