Posted on 08/09/2024 1:31:19 PM PDT by Libloather
The chaplain of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s field artillery regiment said there is no excuse for the Democratic VP pick to have abandoned his National Guard unit before a critical deployment — not even running for Congress.
“In our world, to drop out after a WARNORD [warning order] is issued is cowardly, especially for a senior enlisted guy,” retired Capt. Corey Bjertness, now a pastor in Horace, North Dakota, told The Post.
Bjertness, 61, was the chaplain for the 1st Battalion, 125th Field Artillery, of which Walz was command sergeant major before retiring in 2005, two months before the unit deployed to Iraq. Walz has said he did so to run for Congress, and he was elected the next year.
“Running for Congress is not an excuse,” Bjertness said of Walz’s decision to quit. “I stopped everything and went to war. I left my wife with three teenagers and a 6-year-old and I was gone for 19 months.”
Thomas Behrends, the command sergeant major who replaced Walz, previously told The Post of the Minnesota governor: “He had the opportunity to serve his country, and said ‘Screw you’ to the United States.”
Bjertness added that leaving his troops at such a critical time was irresponsible of Walz, who served for more than two decades with the Army National Guard in Nebraska and Minnesota.
“That means that a new master sergeant needs to come in and to get to know everyone. Their task is to keep everyone safe and healthy,” the pastor said.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Uh, that statment requires some elucidation.
He was provisionally promoted to command sergeant major but had to complete a bunch of coursework for the Army Sergeants Major Academy to meet the required qualifications to fully earn that rank. When he bailed he had not completed that work so upon his retirement he was bumped back down to master sergeant.
He asked to get out.
Once he did that, he couldn’t go back.
The Sergeant Major is known as “The Father” of the battalion.
The father decided to cut and run.
The Soldiers in the battalion would have no respect for him.
I watched a segment of the Megyn Kelly show. Supposedly he had a couple years left on his contract. Not sure how that works asking to get out early..
Occasionally, DoD offers an “Early Out” - usually when the DoD wants to re-allocate funds or there is a budget squeeze.
Thanks for the info, but that doesn't seem to apply here if he had time left on his contract.
Doesn’t matter.
He didn’t just run away from going to a dangerous place.
He ran away from his Soldiers.
He ran away from his unit.
He ran away from our Army’s traditions that were earned by the blood of better men than him.
He ran away from his duty to his country and our citizens.
He will run again whenever he is afraid or paid to run.
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