Setting Tim Walz’s military record straight

Questions about his military service have dogged Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz in nearly every political campaign he has run, including his current bid for vice president on the Democratic ticket with Kamala Harris. Republican vice presidential candidate Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio, is accusing Walz of embellishing his record and skipping deployment to a war zone.

“When the United States of America asked me to go to Iraq to serve my country, I did,” Vance said last week. “When Tim Walz was asked by his country to go to Iraq, you know what he did? He dropped out of the Army and allowed his unit to go without him.”

Walz, now 60 years old, first joined the Nebraska Army National Guard two days after his 17th birthday. On the campaign trail this month, he has said the service “gave me purpose … the strength of a shared commitment to something greater than ourselves.” He served on posts in Texas and Arkansas and responded to national disasters, as well as going on a brief training mission to the Arctic Circle in Norway. He later attended college on the GI Bill.

When he and his wife moved to Minnesota to teach in 1996, he transferred to the Minnesota National Guard, 1st Battalion, 125th Field Artillery. Walz specialized in heavy artillery and has ribbons for proficiency in sharpshooting and hand grenades. He reached the 20 required years for retirement in 2001 but reenlisted after the 9/11 terror attacks. According to his service records, he reenlisted for six years, but in later campaign statements, he said he joined up for an additional four years, which ended when he retired.

What is he accused of?

When Walz ran for Congress in 2006, several voters sent letters to his local newspaper accusing him of making misleading statements about his military service. Walz heavily promoted his military background during that campaign. His online biography read, “Prior to retiring, Walz served overseas with his battalion in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.”

Walz has never faced combat. While combat action for Operation Enduring Freedom took place in Afghanistan, Walz stayed in Vicenza, Italy, an assignment he said he landed “by luck of the draw.” In a 2009 interview for the Veterans History Project for the Library of Congress, Walz said his group helped with security and training

Weapons in war

In 2018, Walz argued in favor of gun control during a town hall appearance during his gubernatorial campaign, saying, “We can make sure that those weapons of war that I carried in war is the only place where those weapons are at.” The Harris campaign clarified in an Aug. 10 statement that Walz misspoke, though he did handle weapons of war. As a field artillery senior noncommissioned officer, he “fired and trained others to use weapons of war innumerable times,” the campaign said, though there is no record that Walz ever carried such weapons in a combat zone.

A journalist introduced Walz on C-Span’s Washington Journal as a retired command sergeant major who served with his battalion in Afghanistan. Walz did not correct her, though later in the discussion he did not claim to have served in combat. A 2018 public letter written by retired Army Command Sgt. Maj. Thomas Behrends accused Walz of embellishing his overseas service. Behrends succeeded Walz in his battalion after retirement.

Retirement

Walz has said he chose to retire from the military after 24 years to run for Congress, but some of his peers accused him of avoiding active deployment. He retired two months before his battalion was formally informed it would deploy to Iraq and 10 months before they left. But given the geopolitical situation at the time, members of Walz’s unit said they understood before the official orders came that their unit would be deployed. On March 17, 2005, the National Guard Public Affairs Office announced a possible partial mobilization of roughly 2,000 troops from the Minnesota National Guard. At the time, Walz had already filed to run for Congress but was determining whether he could remain in the National Guard without violating the Hatch Act, which limits political speech by federal employees. It does not prevent servicemembers from campaigning, though it does prevent them from doing so in uniform. The possible deployment would have fallen during his first congressional term if he won.

“As command sergeant major I have a responsibility not only to ready my battalion for Iraq, but also to serve if called on,” Walz said in a campaign statement on March 20, 2005. “I am dedicated to serving my country to the best of my ability, whether that is in Washington DC or in Iraq.”

Walz retired honorably on May 16, 2005. Almost exactly two months later, his brigade received alert orders for mobilization. The unit trained during the fall of that year and deployed to Iraq in 2006, as Walz was in the middle of his congressional campaign. The tour was extended by four months, not ending until June 2007. Four members were killed in action. By that time, Walz was in his first congressional term and was called the highest-ranking enlisted veteran to ever serve in Congress. He served on the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, and later that year he was appointed to the Armed Services Committee. He opposed the Bush administration’s mobilization of 21,500 troops to Iraq but voted for a 2007 bill that funded the war with nearly $95 billion.

Rank

Shortly before retirement, Walz rose to the rank of command sergeant major, which is the highest enlisted rank. However, he did not finish the coursework for the U.S. Army Sergeant Major Academy and left early. When Walz filed for retirement, he used the CSM status to request retirement on an E-9 level, but administrators bumped him down to E-8 after learning of the discrepancy. The levels determine retirement benefits. As a result, he retired as a master sergeant, but his official biography on the Minnesota state website refers to him as “Command Sergeant Major Walz.” The Harris campaign website originally called Walz a retired command sergeant major but last week changed the wording to say he “rose to the rank of” that position.

Was he lying?

“Stolen valor” is legally defined as the unauthorized wear, manufacture, or sale of any military decorations or medals, according to the Stolen Valor Act of 2005. The penalty is a misdemeanor charge. Colloquially, it is also used to describe someone who claims to have served in the armed services when they have not, or people who inflate their service records. The updated Stolen Valor Act of 2013 makes it a crime to claim to receive an award for valor with the intention of monetary or social gain. Walz has not worn military medals for combat nor has he claimed to have earned any.

Still, his opponents in the 2024 election are bringing up the issue. “What was this weapon that you carried into war, given that you abandoned your unit right before they went to Iraq, and he has not spent a day in a combat zone? What bothers me about Tim Walz is the stolen valor garbage,” said Vance, former President Donald Trump’s running mate. Vance served four years in the Marines. In 2005, he deployed to Iraq as a military journalist. According to his 2016 memoir, Vance “was lucky to escape any real fighting.”

Trump has not commented on Walz’s service or Vance’s criticisms.

Vice President and presumptive Democratic nominee Kamala Harris said Americans should applaud all levels of military service.

“Listen, I praise anyone who has presented themselves to serve our country,” Harris told reporters in Detroit last week.

On Wednesday, the Harris campaign sent emails promoting a letter with 1,000 veterans’ signatures in support of Walz. According to USA Today, the left-leaning VoteVets group circulated the letter, which veterans, family members, and caregivers signed.

“These guys … are even attacking me for my record of service, and I just want to say, I’m proud to have served my country and I always will be,” Walz said Tuesday during a campaign stop in Los Angeles.