Wes Moore's Former Army Supervisor Disputes His Combat Story as 'Repair' Book and 2028 Talk Arrive

Days after Maryland voters returned Gov. Wes Moore to office in what the Associated Press called a landslide, the Democrat faces a pointed challenge to one of the central stories of his public life: his 2005-06 deployment to Afghanistan. The challenge comes from the Army officer who supervised him there.

In a report published Nov. 8 by Spotlight on Maryland, an investigative venture of FOX45 News, The Baltimore Sun and WJLA in Washington, retired Lt. Col. James A. "Jamie" Gottschling said Moore did not lead troops in combat, contrary to the governor's repeated accounts. Just the News quickly picked up the story, citing Fox Baltimore. Moore's office did not respond to Spotlight's offer to let the governor dispute Gottschling's statements or any of its reporting.

Gottschling, then a major and the fire support coordinator for the 82nd Airborne Division's 1st Brigade, was Moore's immediate supervisor at Forward Operating Base Salerno, Spotlight reported. He said Moore worked for him exclusively on information operations coordination, was never involved in employing a weapons system and had no troops assigned to him. Asked whether Moore had any part in kinetic combat activities, Gottschling said no. "It's disingenuous to say that you led paratroopers in combat," he told Spotlight.

He also said Moore did not train with the brigade before it deployed, did not make training jumps and was not on jump status. Just the News, relaying the interview, noted that Gottschling called Moore's service good and described him as a valued staff member whose work included analyzing infantry and reconstruction team reports, coordinating civilian assistance and training Afghan officials to communicate with the public.

Gottschling does not fault the work itself. He said Moore did everything he was called to do. His objection is to how the governor has described that service. Asked whether he believes Moore is a liar, he said he does.

Spotlight set Gottschling's account beside Moore's own words over the years. In a May 2022 social media post, Moore wrote that he had led soldiers into combat in Afghanistan. His 2015 book "The Work" describes bullets striking the ground around him during a firefight and describes leading the soldiers assigned to him. In a 2021 interview he spoke of leading paratroopers, and in a 2014 USO interview he said he had been an infantry officer before moving into special operations, though records show only a military police qualification.

Spotlight said it found no after-action reports, witness accounts or other records showing Moore led soldiers in a direct-fire engagement. Army records, it reported, document six months and 27 days in country, from Aug. 15, 2005, to March 14, 2006, while Moore has spoken of 10 to 13 months. The report said his Combat Action Badge was awarded for a minor indirect rocket attack on the base on Dec. 9, 2005, in which no soldiers were hurt. It also said Moore's placement came through a by-name request from then-Lt. Col. Michael Fenzel, the brigade's deputy commander and Moore's longtime friend and mentor.

Neither Moore nor his office answered Spotlight or Just the News about the newest account, but the governor has defended his record forcefully. Appearing on MSNOW's "The Weeknight" in June, he called Spotlight's work slander and misinformation and said, "I led soldiers in combat, and I'm very proud of what I did," according to a FOX45 analysis. That analysis argued his office has attacked the questions rather than answered them, and said available Army records do not show Moore serving in direct-fire combat.

To The Baltimore Banner, which examined his war stories in June, Moore gave a more measured account. He said he had never been ordered to lead offensive missions in Afghanistan but had faced danger, and he acknowledged, "There's maybe ways I could have articulated things differently". He blamed poor editing and the toll of stress, grief and time on memory for a passage in "The Work" that tied a fallen first sergeant's death to his grandfather's funeral, though the soldier died 11 days later. Moore and his aides have dismissed the critical coverage as hackery, the Banner reported; his office shared some records but declined to release the full set.

The Banner's own verdict was mixed: it concluded that Moore's service was real and well regarded, but that he has repeatedly misdescribed or misremembered details of it. It reported that Moore served as information operations officer for the 82nd Airborne's 1st Brigade, a job usually given to a more senior officer, spent about seven months in Afghanistan, received the Combat Action Badge for coming under indirect fire and was promoted to captain during the deployment. A 2006 evaluation written by then-Maj. Gottschling said Moore had unlimited potential. Spotlight noted that the same evaluation ranked him a top 1 percent officer, praise Gottschling now says was routinely inflated.

Fairness also requires noting where much of the criticism has come from. The Banner reported that many of the critical stories were published by outlets tied to David Smith, executive chairman of Sinclair Broadcast Group and owner of The Baltimore Sun, and that the coverage often relied on anonymous sources and a limited selection of records. Gottschling, by contrast, spoke on the record and by name.

The new account revives an older controversy. In 2024, the AP reported that Moore said he made "an honest mistake" by not correcting a 2006 White House fellowship application that listed a Bronze Star he had not received, an error first reported by The New York Times. Moore said his deputy brigade commander had recommended him and encouraged him to list the medal; that officer, Fenzel, told the Times that Moore at first objected and that he had assured Moore the award was approved. Moore was also introduced as a Bronze Star recipient during 2008 and 2010 television appearances and did not correct the hosts, AP reported.

Moore received a retroactive Bronze Star in December 2024, according to FOX45. Gottschling told Spotlight he was not consulted in that process and would not have concurred, and he said the Army Commendation Medal, not the Bronze Star, was Moore's end-of-tour award. FOX45 has pressed for answers on why the award became urgent in 2024, after 18 years, and which member of Congress requested it.

The stakes are larger than one state. On Wednesday, AP reported that Henry Holt will publish Moore's book "Repair: Healing a Divided Nation" on March 9. Moore said the book is not a political memoir but an effort to ask hard questions and encourage dialogue about shared purpose. AP noted that books are a familiar step for White House hopefuls, though Moore has said he will not run in 2028. Just the News observed that Moore likely faces no penalty under the Stolen Valor Act, but that his claims matter given the speculation about a presidential bid.

The hard questions are fair ones. Will Moore release his complete military file, as Spotlight and other outlets have asked? Can he point to a specific engagement in which he led soldiers under direct fire? Why do his accounts of the deployment's length and his training differ from the records? On Veterans Day, honoring a man's real service and asking him to tell its story accurately are not in conflict. A leader who proposes to repair a divided nation can begin by settling the record of his own.