My experience with NG's in Viet Nam was that they were poorly trained and even more poorly disciplined. They were considered as a kind of a joke by most of us (at least when their units first arrived, they learned pretty quickly and got pretty good). Their officers, and a lot of their senior NCO's, seemed to be more 'buddies' to their men than disciplined leaders. They took quite a few casualties as a result, as did those relying on them.
What I see in this article doesn't indicate any change in the disicpline scenario. Here we have a NG troop that gave vital information to a potential enemy, left his duty post, engaged in unlawful activities which involved fraternizing with a local woman (at the very least), and generally disobeyed orders: All in a combat zone. That should merit a court martial and a pretty stiff prison sentence. He basically gets off free, though, That is not discipline, this does not inspire other troops to strictly obey orders without question, that is not indicative of a strong and serious command structure nescessary for confidence in superiors when split sceond life and death decisions are being made. The failing is in the command, not in the individual soldiers, they are just doing what the command's disciplinary standards indicates is acceptable (even if only fringe acceptability). This is generally fatal in war zones.
I hope you don't think I'm discounting the importance or honor of your service. NG recruits are, I'm sure, as serious about being soldiers as any other regular recruits. Any failing lies in the leadership, not in the soldiers. The NG soldiers are, I'm sure, as good a stock as any that have ever served America. I'm truly hoping I don't hear of a NG unit taking heavy casualties due to a breach of discipline in the ranks resulting form letting this guy off so easy.
And it was a soldier in the 101st .. not what you would normally consider "poorly trained and poorly disciplined" .. who rolled a hand grenade or two into his unit's Command Tent.
My experience is/was that there are many types in both the NG, the Reserve, and the active Army. Some of the "regulars" I served with in the who had Vietnam time were incapable of maintaining their discipline in a non-combat environment; some were the epitome of professionalism. There are all kinds ...
.. and, as another poster indicated, times change. Some of the NG NCOs here at Fort Hood that are preparing to deploy with the 1st Cav and III Corps are chewing up our regulars for uniform appearance and military discipline/courtesy.