Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Vice President Kamala Harris’ pick as a running mate, is being accused of stolen valor, by fellow soldiers who served with him in the National Guard.
Harris placed Walz’s military service front and center at their first rally together in Philadelphia on Tuesday, saying, “To his fellows veterans, he is Sgt. Maj. Walz.”
The governor has reportedly frequently described himself as a retired command sergeant major from the Army, the highest enlisted rank one can achieve.
However, military records obtained by Alpha News in 2022, as Walz was running for re-election, showed that while he did obtain the rank of command sergeant major, known as an E9, he was demoted to master sergeant, E8, because he failed to complete the requirements to keep the higher rank before leaving the Army.
Retired Command Sgt. Maj. Thomas Behrends told Alpha News that Walz in fact left the Army after receiving a warning order that his unit, 1-125th Field Artillery Battalion, was to be deployed to Iraq.
“He abandoned us. … As soon as the shots were fired in Iraq, he turned and ran the other way, hung his hat up and quit,” Behrends said.
The former Minnesota National Guard soldier explained that he was next in line in the unit to take the command sergeant major’s slot and stepped up and deployed to Iraq for nearly two years.
“[Walz] can say that he served as a command sergeant major, but he can’t say he’s a retired one because he’s not,” Behrends said.
Do you think Tim Walz’s retreat from the Guard was cowardly?
Alpha News reported that it reached out to the Minnesota National Guard and a spokesman confirmed that Walz did not retire as a command sergeant major because he failed to complete the coursework and other requirements before leaving the military.
“If he would have went to Iraq, he’s still be hiding under his desk over there, because that’s just the cowardice that I seen portrayed with him,” Behrends concluded.
Behrends and fellow retired Command Sgt. Maj. Paul Herr published a joint letter in the West Central Tribune in 2018 when Walz first ran for governor titled, “The Truth About Tim Walz.”
“Tim Walz has embellished and selectively omitted facts and circumstances of his military career for years,” the letter began.
They noted that Walz re-enlisted following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, but he would never see combat during his time in the military.
“In early 2003 he was selected to attend the United States Army Sergeants Major Academy. The non-resident course consists of two years of correspondence coursework, followed by a two-week resident phase at Fort Bliss, Texas,” Behrends and Herr recounted.
One of the stipulations that is part of enrolling in the academy is a requirement to serve two years following graduation or promotion to command sergeant major.
If soldiers fails to complete the school, they can be separated from the Army and will be reduced in rank to master sergeant, E8, unless the promotion board steps in.
“These stipulations are put in place because the academy is a college level school, the military invests a lot of taxpayer money in the student. The military needs to ensure they will get the return on investment that the taxpayers deserve,” Behrends and Herr explained.
In September 2004, Walz was conditionally promoted to the position of command sergeant major of 1-125th Field Artillery Battalion.
Then in early 2005, a warning order was issued to the unit saying prepare to deploy to Iraq.
“On May 16th, 2005 he quit, leaving the 1-125th Field Artillery Battalion and its Soldiers hanging; without its senior Non-Commissioned Officer, as the battalion prepared for war. His excuse to other leaders was that he needed to retire in order to run for congress,” Behrends and Herr wrote.
The veterans highlighted that this was false, because all Walz needed to do was seek permission from the secretary of defense to become a candidate, as many reservists have done.
Further, “If he had retired normally and respectfully, you would think he would have ensured his retirement documents were correctly filled out and signed, and that he would have ensured he was reduced to Master Sergeant for dropping out of the academy. Instead he waited for the paperwork to catch up to him. His official retirement document states, SOLDIER NOT AVAILABLE FOR SIGNATURE,” Behrends and Herr wrote.
“On September 10th, 2005 conditionally promoted Command Sergeant Major Walz was reduced to Master Sergeant. It took a while for the system to catch up to him as it was uncharted territory, literally no one quits in the position he was in, or drops out of the academy. Except him,” they added.
Behrends and Herr argued Walz falsely claimed for years to be a retired command sergeant major.
“Yes, he served at that rank, but was never qualified at that rank, and will receive retirement benefits at one rank below. You be the judge,” they said.
The 1-125th Field Artillery Battalion would serve in Iraq on a 22-month deployment in 2006 -2007, according to the retired command sergeant majors.
Walz responded to the controversy when if first arose in 2006 when as he was running for Congress, writing in a letter, “After completing 20 years of service in 2001, I re-enlisted to serve our country for an additional four years following Sept. 11 and retired the year before my battalion was deployed to Iraq in order to run for Congress.”
“I’m proud of the 24 years I served our country in the Army National Guard. There’s a code of honor among those who’ve served, and normally this type of partisan political attack comes only from one who’s never worn a uniform,” he added.
But Behrends and Herr argued that Walz was not even being truthful in that letter.
“According to his official Report of Separation and Record of Service, he re-enlisted for six years on September 18th, 2001. However, in his response he says that he re-enlisted for four years, conveniently retiring a year before his battalion was deployed to Iraq,” they wrote.
Further, if he had in fact re-enlisted for four years that would have made his retirement date Sept. 18, 2005 rather than when he did “retire” on May 16, 2005.
“And he makes it sound like he ‘retired’ a year before his battalion deployed to Iraq; when in reality he knew when he ‘retired’ that the battalion would be deployed to Iraq,” Behrends and Herr pointed out.
They concluded, “The bottom line in all of this is gut wrenching and sad to explain. When the nation called, he quit. He failed to complete the United States Army Sergeants Major Academy. He failed to serve for two years following completion of the academy, which he dropped out of.
“He failed to serve two years after the conditional promotion to Command Sergeant Major. He failed to fulfill the full six years of the enlistment he signed on September 18th, 2001. He failed his country. He failed his state. He failed the Minnesota Army National Guard, the 1-125th Field Artillery Battalion, and his fellow Soldiers. And he failed to lead by example. Shameful.”
