Swift Boating Redux

{“Swift Boating”: Since the 2004 election, the term "swift boating" has become a common expression for a campaign attacking opponents by questioning their credibility and patriotism in a dishonest manner. It stems from scurrilous and untrue attacks on John Kerry’s service in Viet Nam as a Naval Officer.}

        Imagine, if you will, a young man who voluntarily joined the Military and served over 20 years, reaching retirement service requirements while having attained the highest enlisted rank possible, and then decided to embark on another service career, retiring after more than 20 years. He did this, becoming a High School Social Studies teacher and found that he loved the second career as much as the first. Actually, this was my career path, and as you might expect I was pleased to see Tim Walz selected as Kamala Harris’ running mate, since his career and mine are similar up to the point that he ran for public office. I only cite the above as evidence that, as opposed to the GOP slanderers I actually know whereof I speak below.

        Since I know more than a little about how the military works, I was disgusted by the “Swift-boating” bucket of swill dumped at Walz by what is apparently a brain damaged Red Hat moron. There were several patently false claims made, which I will address separately. The first is that Walz falsely
claimed to have been a Command Sergeant Major, while the truth is that he served in that capacity prior to retirement, which prevented his attendance at the Leadership Academy which most US Military Senior Enlisted Advisors now attend prior to the assignment. Tim Walz did the job. Period. As for the Leadership Academy, it was established after I was already serving as the Command Master Chief Petty Officer at Nuclear Field “A” School for three years. So, Master Sergeant Walz and I had the same job with essentially the same experience.

        Another claim made by the Red Hatter was that Walz retired to avoid deployment. This is so wrong as to defy description. Walz’s unit could have been ordered deployed anytime in the 22 years he served and, if he feared that service, he could have quit at the four-year point with no possibility of further obligation. Walz had no military obligation anyway, since there had been no draft since 1973 when he was nine years old.

        As an artillery officer, Walz suffered from hearing loss. In 2002, after he had already served 20 years and qualified for retirement, a medical board considered discharging him because of his hearing loss. Instead, he convinced them to let him complete his final enlistment to the obligated 22-year point, to which the Guard agreed, and his retirement papers were approved. This was almost a year before his unit was ordered to deploy. He would have had to re-enlist, which his hearing loss would not have allowed in any case.

        Lie #3: The Swift Boater claimed that to be a Command Sergeant Major meant that the individual must have led men in combat under fire. This is so wrong it isn’t even wrong, it’s just ludicrous. In all three branches of service the position regardless of title is that of direct liaison between the commissioned command structure and the enlisted cadre. In many, if not most cases, even in the Army, these folks rarely if ever see combat themselves. This is even more unlikely in the USAF or Navy. I served as Command Master Chief on a Submarine for three years at a major Shore Command for another three without so much as a spitball involved.

                Master Sergeant Tim Walz, USA (ret) served honorably and continued doing so after retirement as a teacher, coach, legislator, and governor. He deserves our admiration, not the sniveling lies of a malcontent Trumpist liar.

                                     Vote!