Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s military record has come under scrutiny in recent days after Vice President Kamala Harris announced Walz as her running mate on the presidential ticket. Walz served in the National Guard for nearly 24 years before retiring in May 2005.
Republican Ohio Sen. JD Vance, who is former President Donald Trump’s vice presidential pick, claims Walz dropped out of the National Guard before his unit deployed to Iraq.
“When the United States Marine Corps, when the United States of America, asked me to go to Iraq to serve my country, I did it. … When Tim Walz was asked by his country to go to Iraq, he dropped out of the Army and allowed his unit to go without him – a fact that he’s been criticized for aggressively by a lot of the people that he served with. I think it’s shameful,” Vance said in a video clip that he shared on X on Aug. 7.
Other people on social media have also claimed that Walz lied about his military service and rank, which is sometimes called “stolen valor,” and that he did not deploy to a combat zone.
Dozens of readers asked us to look into claims about Walz’s military service record. Here’s what we can VERIFY.
THE SOURCES
- Minnesota National Guard spokespersons
- Archived news releases from Tim Walz’s congressional campaign
- Federal Election Commission (FEC) records
- Minnesota National Guard’s History of the 1st Battalion, 125th Field Artillery
- National Guard news article
- Paid letter to the West Central Tribune’s editor in November 2018
- VERIFY partner station KARE 11’s interview with Retired Command Sergeant Major Joseph Eustice, who served with Walz
- Walz’s bios for the Harris-Walz campaign and on his official state website
WHAT WE FOUND
Tim Walz retired from the National Guard before his unit deployed to Iraq
Walz retired from the National Guard in May 2005 – about two months before his unit received an alert order for mobilization to Iraq. But there’s no evidence that the timing of Walz’s decision to retire before his unit’s deployment was intentional.
In April 1981, Walz enlisted in the Nebraska National Guard, where he served as an infantry senior sergeant and an administrative specialist. He transferred to the Minnesota National Guard in 1996, serving in the 1st Battalion, 125th Field Artillery, Minnesota National Guard spokesperson Lt. Col. Kristen Augé told VERIFY.
Col. Ryan Cochran, the Minnesota National Guard’s Director of Manpower and Personnel, confirmed that Walz received his notification of eligibility for retirement on Aug. 3, 2002.
Walz announced his intent to run for Congress in February 2005, while he was still serving in the Minnesota National Guard, an archived press release and Federal Election Commission (FEC) records show. He filed paperwork with the FEC as a candidate on Feb. 10 of that year.
In March 2005, Walz’s congressional campaign said in a now-archived press release that the National Guard Public Affairs Office “announced a possible partial mobilization of roughly 2,000 troops from the Minnesota National Guard.” That announcement “specified that all or a portion of Walz’s battalion could be mobilized to serve in Iraq within the next two years.”
Walz said at the time that he did not know yet if his unit would be part of the mobilization and he was “unable to comment further on specifics of the deployment.”
Despite the possible deployment, Walz said he did not plan to drop out of his race for Congress.
"As Command Sergeant Major I have a responsibility not only to ready my battalion for Iraq, but also to serve if called on. I am dedicated to serving my country to the best of my ability, whether that is in Washington DC or in Iraq,” Walz was quoted as saying in the news release.
Walz then retired in May 2005 after almost 24 years of service in the National Guard, Augé confirmed. His separation record says he did so honorably, MPR News reported.
National Guard records “do not indicate when [Walz] made his request to retire,” Cochran said.
Nearly two months later, on July 14, 2005, Walz’s unit received an alert order for mobilization to Iraq, according to the Minnesota National Guard’s Director of Operations Lt. Col. Ryan Rossman.
The unit received the official mobilization order on Aug. 14 of that same year and it mobilized on Oct. 12, Rossman said.
The Minnesota National Guard’s deployment history also shows that the 1st Battalion, 125th Field Artillery was mobilized in the fall of 2005 “to prepare for deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.”
Walz’s unit trained throughout the fall before finally deploying in March 2006, according to a National Guard news article.
So it’s true that Walz retired from the National Guard before his unit deployed to Iraq. But there’s no evidence he retired in order to avoid the deployment, as some people have claimed.
In 2018, when Walz was running for governor of Minnesota, two of his former colleagues in the National Guard wrote a paid letter to the editor about Walz’s military service to a local newspaper called the West Central Tribune. Retired Command Sergeant Majors Thomas Behrends and Paul Herr claimed in that letter that Walz retired when he knew his battalion would be deployed to Iraq.
“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,” Behrends, who is a vocal critic of Walz, and Herr wrote in the letter.
Any communication prior to the official mobilization order in 2005 would be considered an unofficial notice for a possible deployment, according to the Minnesota National Guard.
Walz said of his retirement in May 2005 that he “simply moved on to try to serve something else,” VERIFY partner station KARE 11 reported.
Others who served with Walz have also defended him.
Retired Command Sergeant Major Joseph Eustice served 32 years in the Minnesota National Guard. He told KARE 11 that he served with Walz and spoke with him about his retirement ahead of time. Walz told him he planned to run for office.
Eustice said there were rumors the unit would deploy to Iraq but nothing had been determined.
“I don’t know anyone who said he just did it to get out of a deployment,” Eustice said.
Walz was deployed overseas but did not serve in a combat zone
In 2018, Walz spoke out against gun violence and said, “We can make sure that those weapons of war, that I carried in war, is the only place where those weapons are at.” That comment suggests Walz spent time in a combat zone while serving in the National Guard.
During his time in the Minnesota National Guard, Walz did deploy to Italy in support of the war in Afghanistan. But he did not serve in a combat zone.
Walz mobilized with the 1st Battalion, 125th Field Artillery on Aug. 3, 2003, to support Operation Enduring Freedom, Augé confirmed.
Augé said “the battalion supported security missions at various locations in Europe and Turkey.” Walz was “stationed at Vicenza, Italy, during his deployment” and returned to Minnesota in April 2004, she added.
Walz also confirmed in a 2007 C-SPAN interview that he deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and did not give the impression at the time that he served in a combat zone.
“I deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom,” Walz said in the 2007 interview. “My battalion provided base security throughout the European Theater from Turkey to England in the early stages of the war in Afghanistan, and that same battalion is now in Iraq at this time.”
Walz’s National Guard rank was reduced for benefit purposes
Walz’s bios on his official Minnesota state website and the Harris-Walz campaign website both say he rose to the rank of command sergeant major before retiring from the National Guard.
That’s true, but his rank was later reduced for benefit purposes, according to Augé.
Walz “culminated his career serving as the command sergeant major for the battalion,” Augé said. But 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.
A master sergeant is ranked below a command sergeant major.
Walz held multiple positions during his time with the Minnesota National Guard, including firing battery chief, operations sergeant and first sergeant, Augé said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
This story is also available in Spanish / Lee este artículo también en español: La carrera militar de Tim Walz: Lo que podemos verificar
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