He made CSM, but it was contingently awarded and he didn’t meet the conditions to actually retire as a CSM. Years after his premature military separation, that violated the conditions of his promotion to CSM, that he took for a successful congressional run, his rank was reduced to his prior rank of Master Sergeant. He did not need to leave service prematurely(before his contract was up) because of his congressional run, because you can serve your contract and serve congress congruently as LTC Gabbord has done.
So he is not a CSM, he technically was the rank of CSM when he unnecessarily exited his contract prematurely, his rank in retirement is as MSG. That does not take away from his years of service.
I’ll also dispute saying he left the service ‘early’. He fully retired after 20 years and re-enlisted after 9/11 for 4 more. Saying that is leaving early is a stretch.
I was wondering who the hell “LTC Gabbord” is. Then I realized you used Tulsi Gabbard as an example to follow. That alone makes this comment a bit weird, since she’s kind of cookoo.
No, you can’t competently serve in the military and also be in Congress. That’s ridiculous. They barely allowed absentee voting during COVID. How are you going to vote on bills (let alone research them, lobby other representatives, propose them, etc.) when you are deployed to a warzone? If you can’t be deployed you aren’t really in the military, are you?
What is this weird fascination with the rank VP Candidate Walz retired with? This isn’t any type of criticism at all. It’s common to retire at a lower rank, and doesn’t mean you didn’t achieve the highest one. The only thing it affects is the pension check he gets and other benefits.
The man was in the service for 24 years. He gave up a slightly better pension to run for office. I think that shows he’s willing to put the needs of others ahead of his own. In 1989, he earned the title of Nebraska Citizen-Soldier of the Year. Literally shut the fuck up.
He made CSM, but it was contingently awarded and he didn’t meet the conditions to actually retire as a CSM. Years after his premature military separation, that violated the conditions of his promotion to CSM, that he took for a successful congressional run, his rank was reduced to his prior rank of Master Sergeant. He did not need to leave service prematurely(before his contract was up) because of his congressional run, because you can serve your contract and serve congress congruently as LTC Gabbord has done.
So he is not a CSM, he technically was the rank of CSM when he unnecessarily exited his contract prematurely, his rank in retirement is as MSG. That does not take away from his years of service.
I’ll also dispute saying he left the service ‘early’. He fully retired after 20 years and re-enlisted after 9/11 for 4 more. Saying that is leaving early is a stretch.
He separated prior to completion of his 4 year contract after reenlistment, that means he terminated his service early.
That means he terminated his voluntarily extended service early.
This is a valid point, although I didn’t bring it up as the meme stated highest rank held, not necessarily his retired rank.
I was wondering who the hell “LTC Gabbord” is. Then I realized you used Tulsi Gabbard as an example to follow. That alone makes this comment a bit weird, since she’s kind of cookoo.
No, you can’t competently serve in the military and also be in Congress. That’s ridiculous. They barely allowed absentee voting during COVID. How are you going to vote on bills (let alone research them, lobby other representatives, propose them, etc.) when you are deployed to a warzone? If you can’t be deployed you aren’t really in the military, are you?
What is this weird fascination with the rank VP Candidate Walz retired with? This isn’t any type of criticism at all. It’s common to retire at a lower rank, and doesn’t mean you didn’t achieve the highest one. The only thing it affects is the pension check he gets and other benefits.
The man was in the service for 24 years. He gave up a slightly better pension to run for office. I think that shows he’s willing to put the needs of others ahead of his own. In 1989, he earned the title of Nebraska Citizen-Soldier of the Year. Literally shut the fuck up.