In a Nat'l Guard unit....you have x-number of billets with rank attached. You don't move up in this unit....unless a empty billet of superior rank exists. So you wait.
Walz had made it to E8.
The one single E9 position in the unit? It came open, and with time in rank/service and points...he was offered the rank.
So here's the hard part....you can't clear the rank for retirement purposes, unless you have two years of service. If you had 23 months of E9 service and opt'ed out? You retire at E8 (probably a $4k a year difference).
So Tim took the rank...put the stripe on, and shortly after this point.....word came down to the unit....they would deploy in roughly a year.
Tim had this odd goal....running for office, and with the previous situation....he'd have plenty of free time to run. If he deployed with the unit....zero free time.
Tim prioritized things and said enough...turning the papers in and retiring at what he originally figured was E9 level.
The Nat'l Guard unit filled the seat....deployed to the war-zone, and bitter feelings within the unit existed over how he did this.
As time passed....some Army audit occurred, and established the fact that the two-year phase had not been accomplished....so the rank-retired...reverted to E8.
Perhaps an honest mistake, or a judgement error by the commander....anyone's guess.
If you asked around, I would suggest at least forty cases like this per year....where the Guard person has established some goal of running for office (maybe as a sheriff or as a governor), and they opt-out to enter the race because they can't go and pull a full-year somewhere.
As for a morale case here? For the most part, I'd say with judgement over his past behavior....the unit was pretty lucky in not having him there in the war-zone, and just leave the mess on the table....as is.
One last footnote.....such a full-year deployment would have ruined his yearly trips to China.
