Hanaguma

Four deferments. Biden took five.

Absolute BS. Border czar was a term made up by the MSM, and not disputed by the Democrats, to describe Harris' job. For 3 years it was in use, then suddenly....

If you were a Biden supporter, so were you. Or a Clinton supporter back in the day, or Bush Jr. But those guys, for their sins, at least did not put their unit at risk by leaving at a critical time. Replacing a senior NCO like Walz in the weeks/months before an overseas deployment is almost impossible.

The Guardsmen I trained with did one weekend a month, and a two week training course in the summer. Of course, YMMV. That is the minimum. There were also specialist training courses where Guard soldiers would train with regular Army for weeks/months at a time, but those were voluntary and depended on their particular MOS.

Gotta disagree there. The Guard units I trained with were almost always very professional. They tend to be geographically based, so the men know each other in civilian life as well as military. It is hard to compare to regular service to the Guard. The problem is when people talk about Walz' '24 years of military service'. It is easy for folks to confuse that with serving24 years in the regular Army. That is why veterans invariably will be specific and say, "I was in the National Guard for ...years". And when politiical idiots try to compare it with Vance doing 4 years in the Marines? It gets silly.

We can probably leave Trump out of the discussion, if you are capable. If. Suffice to say he took the same path that many did to avoid Vietnam- multiple student deferments, then when those ran out either a medical or National Guard stint or..... As I have endlessly stated, I have nothing but respect for Walz serving in the Guard. However... the timing and manner of his rather sudden departure are worthy of investigation. Especially since he suddenly decided to leave in the middle of his enlistment contract. Also, his conduct afterwards cannot be excused. Referring to himself as a veteran of OIF, as a man who carried weapons into battle, and so on. Also allowing others to use the same lies about him in the press and for political gain. Military veterans are famously very very precise about language when it pertains to their service. Walz knew exactly what he was doing when he chose to embellish (to be polite) his service and use it as a political tool.

All of Iraq was considered a war zone in 2005. Ever hear of something called an insurgency? That is why everyone in the country was awarded combat/danger pay. There were no safe areas. Much like Afghanistan, where I had 2 family members serving. Moot point though, because Walz ensured that HE would never be at risk by quitting before his unit deployed. The level of ignorance of the military in this discussion is truly astonishing...

Vance served in a war zone. Vance completed his full enlistment. Vance was a regular, not a "weekend warrior". As I have said, Walz server in the Guard honourably. But let down his unit in the end. As a senior NCO, he should have shown more responsibility and less selfishness.

Like I said before, if you are ignorant about the military, perhaps you should try to learn a little before offering opinions based on a lack of knowledge.

Ah yes. "B-b-but Trump!" enters the room. Hey, the Democrat nominee until 15 minutes ago did the same. As I said before, Walz served honourably for 24 years. Then it seems things changed.

Walz had signed a contract for 6years of service, to end in 2007. He didn't honour that commitment.

It's always amusing to read the uninformed opinions of people with little experience in military matters trying to sound knowledgable. Retiring in the middle of a contract, with knowledge that an overseas deployment is coming, says a lot about a man's character. As does pretending to have served in a war zone.

Not a metaphor. At best a gross exaggeration. At worst a craven lie to embellish himself. Military people are very precise about language.

Walz' direct supervisor in the Guard disagrees. He was on CNN and said that Walz committed to the deployment, then went behind his (supervisor's) back to file retirement papers with others higher up the chain of command.

Quote from Walz on justifying a ban on assault weapons; “We can make sure that those weapons of war, that I carried in war, is the only place where those weapons are at,” He was never in war. He filed for retirement in May 2005. At that time, rumours swirling about Guard units being mobilized. A better man may have decided to put off retirement and chosen to serve with the men he trained with.

If you have the timeline of Walz' retirement processing, I would love to see it. Even better to compare it to the timing of his unit being both officially and unofficially tasked to go overseas. Not sure about the US, but in Canada it is very rare to retire at the 24 year mark. 25 is much more common as benefits kick in at that point. But I am not sure, as I said. Aside from that, there is no question that Walz lied about his service on multiple occasions, and let others lie about it without correcting them. He wants to gain some cred for having served in combat and use that as a political advantage. He never served in combat, never carried a weapon in a combat zone, never served in Iraq or Afghanistan. Yet claims to all of those have been made.

As did Biden . And Clinton. And Cheney.

At least he actually went to Iraq with his unit- unlike Walz. You may not remember, but Iraq was very much an insurgency type conflict -there WERE no cushy behind-the-lines jobs.

Yes, of course they know how to use firearms. Who said they didn't? You are really confused. How many Guardsmen or Reservists have you actually met? That may be why you seem rather obtuse and ill-informed on the subject. If you are referring to Waltz' claim to have carried weapons into battle, that is a different argument entirely. Nobody is questioning whether or not he served, but rather the circumstances surrounding his sudden departure.

I was in both, in Canada we called the Guard "the Militia". We did a lot of exercizes with Guard units from across the border in New York. Those guys were like me, weekend warriors. There was a certain core cadre in each Guard unit of full time regular Army to keep the place running, but the vast majority were very part time. Like Walz. He worked full time as a teacher while serving in the Guard. And yes, the National Guard is a part of the Army, but the soldiers invariably refer to themselves as "Guardsmen" to distinguish between themselves and professional soldiers. I guess it must be confusing to a person such as yourself, with no military experience. If you have any other questions so that you can fill in the gaps in your knowledge, feel free to ask.

Perhaps you may not know much about the subject. Americans take pains to tell whether they were in "the Guard" or "the Army/Regular Forces". To say one was in the Army for 25 years implies that you were a full time soldier.

No, he didnt. He served 24 years in the National Guard. It is a part time commitment, perhaps one weekend a month after initial training. He, like all other Guard members, were fully able to keep their standard civilian jobs and lives, just like every other citizen. And by all accounts he served honorably. Until the whole Iraq thing. He quit the Guard in the middle of his commitment, and the reasons/timing bear investigation. Possibly pure coincidence, but that remains to be seen. What is not up for debate is that he DID quit early, he DID fail to qualify for his terminal rank, he DID lie about serving in combat. We shall see. Americans have very little patience for potential cowards.

Actually, Trump was a draft dodger. And his final medical excuse was for bone spurs, after taking 4 student deferments. Much like Joe Biden, whose final medical excuse was asthma as a child, after taking 5 student deferments. Like lots of men in that generation, they took whatever steps they could to avoid the draft. Walz is at best a liar and at worst a coward. Time will tell which. The simple fact is that he signed a commitment to stay in the Guard until 2007 and broke it. Broke it at the height of the Iraq war when Guard Units from across the country were being activated and deployed. The reasons and motivations will be fascinating to discover. But failing to take a qualifying course to assume a promotion is very very suspicious.

... an yet he is dominating you. You just can't seem to discuss anything without bringing up his name. Trump for the win in Spider Mike's head. And Biden FWIW could teach about draft dodging too- 5 student deferments plus a medical exam that got him off the hook entirely. Both men avoided that misbegotten war. As for JD. as far as I know he at least served in the war zone (Iraq). He didn't renege on his military commitments and break his contract to serve.

Vance beat an incumbent Democrat in an otherwise poor year for Republicans. He is a great attack dog.