Former Army Officer Disputes Moore’s Combat Claims

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore’s former Afghanistan supervisor, retired Lt. Col. James Gottschling, disputes Moore’s accounts of serving as a paratrooper and leading soldiers in combat in 2005–06. Gottschling says Moore was an attached reservist assigned to brigade staff work, including information operations and coordination with Afghan officials, and did not command troops, train or jump with the brigade, or take part in direct-action combat. He described Moore’s service as good and said Moore was a valued staff member, while calling claims of leading paratroopers in combat disingenuous. Reporting also says military records place Moore in military police training and show a deployment of about seven months; Moore has described a longer deployment and recounted coming under fire in his 2015 book. The available accounts note that Moore received a Combat Action Badge after indirect rocket fire struck his base, but do not independently verify his descriptions of hostile fire while off-base.