page_title: John Walsh (Montana politician)
section_title: Montana Army National Guard
hierarchical_section_title: John Walsh (Montana politician) / Montana Army National Guard
caption_attribution_description: English: Brigadier General John E. Walsh, Senator from Montana, former Lieutenant Governor
context_page_description: John Edward Walsh is an American politician who served as the junior United States senator from Montana from 2014 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as a colonel in the Army National Guard, the adjutant general of the Montana National Guard with a state commission as a brigadier general from 2008 to 2012 and the 34th Lieutenant Governor of Montana from 2013 to 2014 under Governor Steve Bullock.
  In October 2013, Walsh announced his candidacy for the U.S. Senate in 2014 to succeed retiring Democratic incumbent Max Baucus. When Baucus resigned prior to the end of his term, Bullock appointed Walsh to fill Baucus's seat. In August 2014, he dropped out of the race after The New York Times reported he had plagiarized portions of a research paper he had written at the Army War College in 2007, resulting in the college revoking his Master's degree. He was succeeded in the Senate by Republican Steve Daines.
  From February 2016 to November 2017, Walsh was the state director of Montana's USDA Rural Development office for the United States Department of Agriculture. He then began a career in real estate sales.
context_section_description: Walsh served in the Montana Army National Guard for 33 years. In this capacity he led 1st Battalion, 163rd Infantry Regiment in combat in Iraq. He earned the Bronze Star Medal and the Combat Infantryman Badge. In 2000, he led operations of over 2,000 Guard members during Montana's wildfires.
  In 2008 Walsh was appointed Adjutant General and received a state promotion to brigadier general. He resigned in 2012 to run for Lieutenant Governor, and continued to serve as a traditional Army Guardsman (one weekend drill per month, two weeks of annual training each year). He was appointed by his successor to serve as the Montana National Guard's land component commander, and he served in this position until retiring from the National Guard in December 2012.
  A 2010 Army Inspector General report concluded that Walsh used the Adjutant General's post for "private gain" by pressuring subordinates into joining the National Guard Association of the United States in an effort to bolster Montana's membership numbers and enhance Walsh's candidacy for Vice President of NGAUS. Walsh disputed the IG's report, explaining that it stemmed from a disagreement in interpreting the rules which govern when and how Department of Defense employees can take part in activities such as running for a NGAUS leadership position. Walsh further noted that the NGAUS position was uncompensated, requiring him to travel to meetings at his own expense. The report prevented him from receiving federal recognition as a general officer during his tenure as Adjutant General. (Adjutants General are normally federally recognized as major generals in the reserve component of the Army or Air Force, provided they meet all eligibility criteria.) News accounts indicated that Walsh received a formal letter from General Peter W. Chiarelli, then the Vice Chief of Staff of the United States Army, in which Chiarelli reminded Walsh of his obligation to remain impartial in his dealings with non-federal entities, such as NGAUS.
  Former Governor Brian Schweitzer said that when he received the report in 2010, he considered it "much ado about nothing." Contemporary news accounts indicated that Schweitzer wrote to Chiarelli to state his confidence in Walsh's integrity and abilities, and to urge his promotion to the federally recognized general officer ranks.
caption: Walsh as Adjutant General of the Montana National Guard
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