Was he flocked? Meaning that he was an E8 for pay, but held the E9 rank for the position. I had a first Sgt (E7) that was flocked as an E8 until retirement.
The correct term is frocked. Yes, he was apparently frocked, as related by attorney Robert Gouveia, quoting Ashley Hayek as the source of information. Starts at 9m:10s of Youtube video.
Queued to start of video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pd7NvRp86sk&t=1s
Queued to 9m:10s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pd7NvRp86sk&t=550s
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frocking
In the United States military, frocking is the practice of a commissioned or non-commissioned officer selected for promotion wearing the insignia of the higher grade before the official date of promotion (the "date of rank"). An officer who has been selected for promotion may be authorized to "frock" to the next grade.The need to frock is a result of the fact that the number of people who may serve in a particular rank is restricted by federal law. Thus, even though an individual may have been selected for promotion and, for officers, confirmed by the Senate, they must often wait for a vacancy (headroom) to occur in order to be officially promoted.
Frocking is a response to a fiscal restriction. The service gets to put someone in the uniform of the higher rate/rank/grade prior to the official date of promotion without making an unauthorized expenditure of appropriated funds.
Walz was not busted a paygrade at retirement. Officially, he never held the rate/grade of E-9. At retirement before actually meeting all the requirements to be E-9, and prior to any official promotion, he was defrocked and no longer authorized to wear the uniform with the E-9 insignia. Officially, Walz was never an E-9, and he never drew E-9 pay.
His attempt to have the Minnesota National Guard grant him E-9 retirement was denied and he was retired at the highest rate he ever officially held, E-8.