Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s military biography is being disputed by the state’s National Guard, which claims the Democrat vice presidential nominee did not hold the rank of command sergeant major at the time of his retirement, Newsweek reported Wednesday.
Walz’s official gubernatorial biography on the Minnesota’s official website states, “Command Sergeant Major Walz retired from the 1-125th Field Artillery Battalion in 2005.” But Army Lt. Col. Army Kristen Augé, the state public affairs officer for the Minnesota National Guard, said Wednesday the governor retired as a master sergeant "because he did not complete additional coursework at the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy," Newsweek reported.
A soldier who does not complete the requisite coursework is automatically demoted, according to Army regulations.
Walz’s pick as Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate has reignited a controversy surrounding his military service that began during his initial run for governor in 2018, when Thomas Behrends and Paul Herr, two retired command sergeant majors in the Minnesota National Guard, criticized Walz for retiring shortly before his battalion was set for a deployment to Iraq.
According to the letter Behrends and Herr posted on Facebook, Walz, who served in the National Guard for 24 years, was selected in 2004 to serve as command sergeant major of the 1-125th Field Artillery Battalion and by September of that year, Walz was conditionally promoted to the rank. But by early 2005, Walz's battalion was ordered to mobilize for an active-duty deployment to Iraq.
Shortly after, in May 2005, Walz "quit, leaving the 1-125th Field Artillery Battalion and its Soldiers hanging; without its senior non-commissioned Officer, as the battalion prepared for war," according to the letter.
"When your country calls, you are supposed to run into battle – not the other way,” Behrends told the New York Post on Tuesday. “He ran away. It’s sad. "He had the opportunity to serve his country and said ‘Screw you’ to the United States. That’s not who I would pick to run for vice president."
Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, Donald Trump’s running mate on the Republican ticket who served four years in the Marine Corps and was deployed to Iraq, said Wednesday in Michigan that Walz abandoned his unit before it was deployed to Iraq.
“When the United State Marine Corps, when the United States of America asked me to go to Iraq to serve my country, I did it,” Vance said, according to CNN. “I did what they asked me to do, and I did it honorably and I’m very proud of that service. 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.”
Rep. Jack Bergman, R-Mich., who earned the rank of lieutenant colonel in the Marine Corps, told Newsmax on Wednesday he plans to investigate whether Walz has been honest about his service in the National Guard. Bergman is a member of the House Armed Services Committee and the Military Personnel Subcommittee.
"I'm a Marine and you either go to the sound of the guns or you run from the sound of the guns," Bergman said. "My staff is doing a deep dive into all the details of Walz's service to make sure that the portrait that's being presented of his service is accurate. And the point is, if you sign up in the military to not go to the sound of the guns, you probably shouldn't have signed up in the first place."
Newsmax reached out to the Harris campaign for comment.