New questions are emerging about the length and nature of Chandler Vice Mayor OD Harris's military service, as official records don't appear to align with his past statements.
Harris, who is running for reelection in the July 30 primary, has made being a veteran a prominent part of his public persona. Earlier this month, the Arizona Republic reported that official military records showed he served 16 months, and some veterans questioned the ethics of touting his record for political gain.
National Guard Bureau records show Harris received an "uncharacterized" discharge more than four years early and that he would have needed a waiver to return to duty.
Harris has refused to provide any discharge papers himself, unlike every other local candidate who was asked. He has ignored multiple interview requests from The Arizona Republic to explain his record and discrepancies between what is known and what he's said about his stint in Michigan's Army National Guard in the late 1990s.
Harris did speak about his military background in a video produced by the city of Chandler for Veterans Day in 2021.
“I served in the United States Army from 1997 to 2000,” Harris says in the video. “And my MOS (military occupational specialty) was admin slash counterintelligence.”
Those claims cannot be confirmed by his available military records, and veterans say Harris' remarks don't stack up.
The video was deleted from Chandler’s YouTube channel Friday, two days after The Republic first published its July 17 report on Harris’ service. The city has not explained why it was taken down or if anyone requested the action.
What did Harris do in the military?
A military occupational specialty, or MOS, is the job that servicemembers get after completing advanced training, which happens after boot camp. MOS’s range from engineering to aerial defense to medicine. Enlistees typically get assigned to one MOS based on their performance, test scores and aptitude.
Counterintelligence is one of the most competitive and rigorous courses, running more than 19 weeks. The administration field, which involves duties such as processing paychecks, has far less competitive entrance requirements and involves nine weeks of advanced training.
Records from the National Guard Bureau and National Archives lists Harris’ military education as “N/A," and states the term "denotes information is not available in the veteran's records." The same is listed under Harris' military discharge in the National Guard form. It's unclear whether they couldn't be retrieved or don't exist.
The file says Harris was in the 363rd Personnel Service Detachment in Lansing, Michigan, a now-defunct administrative unit, according to David Kennedy, Michigan National Guard spokesperson.
Harris's claims about his duties in administration and counterintelligence are equally clouded.
His statement in the video could be interpreted two ways: either he did administration work within a counterintelligence unit, or he was trained for both duties.
Spokesperson Angela Camara, who works at the Army's Fort Huachuca near Tucson, said the latter would be “highly unusual."
The record does not support any claim that Harris worked in counterintelligence.
Camara responded to The Republic's request for context. She said Fort Huachuca, near Sierra Vista, is “the only place counterintelligence is taught in the Army” and that Harris “never attended a counterintelligence course" there.
A spokesperson for the Michigan National Guard said it would be difficult to determine if a counterintelligence unit was stationed there while Harris served because records were not computerized back then.
The initial probe:Chandler vice mayor OD Harris only served 16 months but highlights veteran status
Kennedy spoke only about what a current Guard member in a personnel detachment would do today, noting, “right now, within our personnel services department at our headquarters in Lansing, they do not do counterintelligence.”
“Those administrative personnel are typically involved in things like processing your pay, updating your (file) if you get married or divorce and that paperwork, ensuring that your identification card is not expired,” he added. “When we say administrative services, they very (literally) are administrative services.”
Kennedy said it is possible an enlistee could be assigned to do administrative work in an office where counterintelligence personnel work.
A servicemember's MOS would not be "admin slash counterintelligence" if they did not receive counterintelligence training, however. It would simply be "admin," and they could be placed with any type of unit to do its paperwork, according to the Michigan National Guard's public affairs office.
Harris’ stated service dates are off, enlisted branch obscured
Harris said he was in the U.S. Army from 1997 to 2000. That timespan is not supported by official records.
Harris served in the Michigan Army National Guard from August 28, 1998, until December 30, 1999, according to a records of his military service released by the National Archives and the National Guard.
The vice mayor may be counting his time in the junior reserve officers’ training corps, or JROTC, which he called the junior recruiting officers’ training corps in the video. That could have started in 1997 when Harris was in high school.
"When I first got in, I was still in high school ... I was doing what they call JROTC,” he said. “That was my first introduction to the military.”
JROTC is not the military and is more akin to a high school club, according to Anthony Anderson, a former Army sergeant who served for nearly two decades and has spent years publicly exposing those who are untruthful about their claimed military service.
Camara reviewed the video and agreed, saying if people are members of JROTC, they “are not in the Army.”
Why was Harris discharged from the National Guard?
Harris' full military term was set to expire in August 2004, but he was discharged in December 1999.
The reason for his early departure wasn't clear. The National Guard Bureau discharge papers state only that his discharge was "uncharacterized" but do not detail any circ*mstances.
Records only refer to a discharge reason code from the National Guard Regulations, but the meaning of that code is not publicly available, according to Anderson.
"That would only be accessible by a recruiter, if he was going to go to a recruiter and try to get back in, they would put that in the system," he told The Republic. "That's the one part they're not going to tell you."
Whatever the particulars, the discharge came with prohibitions against Harris reenlisting.
The National Guard form lists an RE-3 code for his eligibility to return to duty. That is the second-most restrictive code and means Harris was bared from reenlisting without a waiver, according to Army regulations.
Harris also did not receive a military certificate, which is something needed to get most veterans' benefits.
"He got uncharacterized, which means he got no certificate at all. That basically means he's not a veteran. Even under VA rules he's not considered a veteran. Because he has an uncharacterized discharge because he didn't serve enough of time," Anderson told The Republic.
Reporter Sam Kmack covers Tempe, Scottsdale and Chandler.Follow him on X@KmackSamor reach him atsam.kmack@arizonarepublic.com.
