Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, is being accused of cowardice and lying about his service record while he was serving in the Minnesota National Guard before his time as governor. In a letter to the editor of the West Central Tribune dated November 2, 2018, retired Command Sergeants Major Thomas Behrends and Paul Herr alleged that Walz lied or embellished his service record and shirked his duty as the senior enlisted leader of a Minnesota National Guard unit as it was about to be deployed to Iraq in 2005.
We, retired Command Sergeants Major of the Minnesota National Guard, feel it is our duty and responsibility to bring forth the truth as we know it concerning his service record. So, we have put together a timeline of his service post 9/11. To the best of our knowledge, this information is completely true, having been verified by all those who served in positions with first hand knowledge of the facts and circumstances of his service and departure from the Minnesota National Guard. Many of the dates and time frames are from his official discharge document and the reduction order reducing him to Master Sergeant.
Governor Walz enlisted in the Minnesota National Guard in 1981 and served for 24 years, obtaining the rank of Sergeant Major. However, he was reduced in rank to Master Sergeant in September 2005 after failing to complete the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy. But that is just the end of his military career; according to Herr and Behrends, Tim Walz did other shameful things, and something far worse — he abandoned his troops when they went to Iraq.
In September 2001, then First Sergeant Walz reenlisted in the Minnesota National Guard for six years and was selected to attend the United States Army Sergeants Major Academy (USASMA) in early 2003. Attending this course is mandatory for all senior enlisted members who intend to earn the promotion to the rank of Sergeant Major. The course consists of two years of correspondence coursework, followed by a two-week in-person phase at Fort Bliss, Texas. When a senior enlisted member accepts the invitation to the school, they agree to several stipulations, which include the possibility of being separated from the service if a person fails the course or that any failure to attend the course will result in an automatic reduction in rank to Master Sergeant. All participants must sign an agreement upon enrollment that they agree and abide by these stipulations. The USASMA is a college-level course and is funded by taxpayer money, so the military needs to ensure that the taxpayer gets a return on their investment.
I read this at the source last evening and saved the link to share with you. Good job getting it posted.
The issue re: Walz comes down to this. He was in the Guard for many years and rose through the ranks to Sergeant; the rank of Sergeant has a number of progressive steps from E-5 to E-9. That’s laudable.
Shortly after 9/11 he extended his enlistment and was selected for a promotion training process that would take several years and require an additional enlistment contractual commitment. He signed and began the training. A few years later he and members of his unit were deployed to Italy for several months to provide added security at an Air Force base there. No hostilities and uneventful return after the deployment. Worth noting his unit was an artillery battalion, not infantry.
Later, when his unit got advance notice they would actually be deployed to Iraq he circumvented the normal process and submitted retirement papers outside normal channels. He did not deploy. He had been wearing the stripes of his anticipated promotion but under terms of his promotion training contract he was reduced one rank from his actual rank in retirement. His unit left without him and did suffer a fatality while in Iraq in 2006-2007. Walz left behind the higher rank, pay bump and higher retirement benefit of that rank when he chose to resign on the cusp of deployment.
In contrast, J D Vance enlisted in USMC after high school and was sent to Iraq for a period of time during his enlistment. The Marines consider everyone to be a rifleman but his actual job was as reporter or correspondent so he was around various Marine units during his deployment. Apparently nothing stood out about his time there except he did his job.