In 2010, Montana Lt. Gov. John Walsh was formally reprimanded by the Army Vice Chief of Staff in a memo, following an Army Inspector General investigation, which found Walsh had broken federal government ethics regulations during his time as Adjutant General of the Montana National Guard. General Peter W. Chiarelli, who signed the memo, said Walsh’s “failure to adhere to Army Values causes me to question your ability to lead.” The memo went on to state, “Your actions were unacceptable, inconsistent with the conduct expected of our senior leaders.”
As reporting over the weekend showed, Walsh, who was appointed as Adjutant General in 2008, was a federally-recognized Colonel when he left the Guard in 2012 to run with Steve Bullock in the gubernatorial race – that’s the same rank he held when he was appointed to head the Guard. He was never promoted to the federally-recognized rank of general. That’s something that usually happens. In fact, Walsh is the only Adjutant General of the Montana National Guard since the late 1980s not to be promoted to general.
Walsh has said he doesn’t think he did anything wrong. Apparently his seniors in the Department of Defense disagreed.