Minnesota National Guard confirms VP nominee Tim Walz demoted, calling into question official bio

The Minnesota National Guard confirmed Wednesday that Gov. Tim Walz, Kamala Harris' vice presidential running mate, was demoted and did not retire as a command sergeant major like he has claimed for years, including on his official gubernatorial biography.

While Walz temporarily held the title of command sergeant major he "retired as a master sergeant in 2005 for benefit purposes because he did not complete additional coursework at the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy," Army Lt. Col. Kristen Augé, the Minnesota National Guard’s State Public Affairs Officer, told Just the News.

The statement reignited a controversy that began during his 2018 election for governor in which National Guardsman claimed on social media and in a paid ad that Walz declined to deploy to Iraq for combat duty in 2005 and forfeited his title of command sergeant major. Walz chose to run for Congress that year.

The governor's biography, published on the state's official website, says that "Command Sergeant Major Walz" retired from the Minnesota National Guard in 2005. At the time he was serving as one of the highest ranking members of the 1-125th Field Artillery Battalion. 

The Minnesota National Guard disputed his description of his final rank,.

"Governor Tim Walz served from April 8, 1981, to May 16, 2005.  Governor Walz served in the Minnesota National Guard’s 1st Battalion, 125th Field Artillery after transferring from the Nebraska National Guard in 1996. While serving in Minnesota, his military occupational specialties were 13B - a cannon crewmember who operates and maintains cannons and 13Z -field artillery senior sergeant. In Nebraska, he served as a 11Z - infantry senior sergeant, and a 71L - administrative specialist.  He held multiple positions within field artillery such as firing battery chief, operations sergeant, first sergeant, and culminated his career serving as the command sergeant major for the battalion," Army Lt. Col. Kristen Augé, Minnesota National Guard’s State Public Affairs Officer, told Just the News in a statement Wednesday. 

"He retired as a master sergeant in 2005 for benefit purposes because he did not complete additional coursework at the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy," she added. 

According to Army Regulation 600-8-19, a solider who does not complete the requisite coursework results is automatically demoted. 

"The Soldier must complete the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Course as a condition of this promotion. Failure to meet the condition will cause demotion per AR 600 – 8 – 19," the regulation reads. 

This is not the first time that Walz's military records have come under scrutiny. During his campaign for governor in 2018, two retired senior officials in the Minnesota National Guard criticized Walz for retiring shortly before his battalion was set for a deployment to Iraq.  

The two retired Command Sergeants Major in the guard wrote in an open letter posted to Facebook that they felt it was their "duty and responsibility to bring forth the truth as we know it concerning his service record." Thomas Behrends, one signer of the letter, was chosen to replace Walz. 

According to the letter, Minnesota Governor Walz was selected in 2004 to serve as the 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 two Command Sergeants Major. 

"When your country calls, you are supposed to run into battle — not the other way,” Behrends told the New York Post 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," he added. 

The office of Governor Walz did not respond to a request for comment from Just the News.

Retired U.S. Army Reserve Major General Tim Haake told Just the News that, based on his experience, a Command Sergeant Major resigning shortly before a deployment would likely have a "deleterious" effect on the unit. "The Command Sergeant Major is the highest enlisted rank in a unit and is the key person ensuring the troops are prepared, logistically, emotionally, and any other way, for the mission." 

As a result of his abrupt retirement, and breach of his conditional agreement, the authors claimed Walz was demoted to Master Sergeant for his retirement. 

Scrutiny on politicians over accusations of "stolen valor" are not new. More recently, a Republican candidate J.R. Majewski for an Ohio House seat faced pressure from the media over allegations he misrepresented his service record by billing himself as a combat veteran, a term technically accurate, but which critics argued painted a picture that he was actively involved in combat scenarios, which was not true. In fact, he deployed to Qatar during the War on Terror in a support role. 

When he ran for Senate in 2010, now-Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut was criticized for claiming he served in Vietnam despite no records of that service. In fact, Blumenthal obtained five military deferments from service between 1965 to 1970, the New York Times reported at the time. He only later enrolled in the Marine Reserve and served in domestic roles. 

Senator John Kerry, who later became Secretary of State in the Obama Administration, faced scrutiny from a group called Swift Boat Veterans for Truth that questioned his service record and the circumstances surrounding his Purple Hearts. The group called into question the severity of the fighting and injuries that netted Kerry three Purple Hearts, awarded for sustaining injuries in combat. The members of the group argued, for example, the wound Kerry received to merit his first Purple Heart was not severe enough. 

But, Kerry and allies pushed back on this characterization. Kerry's commanding officer during the incidents also defended the medals by describing how frequently they were distributed to soldiers.

"There were an awful lot of Purple Hearts -- from shrapnel, some of those might have been M-40 grenades," said George Elliott, Kerry's commanding officer, according to the Boston Globe. "The Purple Hearts were coming down in boxes. Kerry, he had three Purple Hearts. None of them took him off duty. Not to belittle it, that was more the rule than the exception."