This is no small point, because Walz has repeatedly run on his claim that he was the "highest ranking service member" in Congress, pointing out his temporary, provisional promotion to Command Master Sergeant.
After he deserted his unit, he was demoted to Master Sergeant -- a much more common rank.
No one is reporting this yet, but I think it's a fair speculation that he was only given the promotion to Command Master Soldier was in anticipation of leading his unit in the Iraq War. As he bugged out as soon as he was informed his unit was going to Iraq, he obviously did not earn this rank.
And the National Guard stripped it from him.
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.
Part of his unofficial coursework, I imagine, was actually leading his unit in combat.
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.
...
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.
So in September 2004, he was temporarily granted the rank of Command Sergeant Major -- while the Iraq War was in full swing.
If I can read into that: They promoted him because they envisioned him leading troops into war.
But he bugged out.
But, by early 2005, Walz's battalion was ordered to mobilize for an active duty deployment to Iraq.
September 2004, he's given the promotion. In "early" 2005, he's told he'll be deployed to Iraq.
And then he quits.
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.
JD Vance, who signed up to go to Iraq and then fought in Iraq, isn't having this chickenhawk steal valor from actual warriors.
Vance accuses Walz of "shameful" conduct for abandoning military unit before Iraq
Republican vice presidential nominee, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, accused his Democrat counterpart, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz of "lying" about his military service and engaging in "stolen valor garbage" during a campaign rally in Detroit Wednesday. Vance's comments came in response to Walz's criticism of his Ivy League education.
Key Details:
Vance responded to Walz's critique, saying, "I came from a family where nobody in my family had ever gone to law school. I grew up in a poor family. The fact that Tim Walz wants to turn it into a bad thing, that I actually worked myself through college, through law school and made something myself -- to me, that's the American dream. And if Tim Walz wants to insult it, I think that's frankly pretty bizarre."
Vance accused Walz of abandoning his unit before they deployed to Iraq, stating, "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, a fact that he's been criticized for aggressively by a lot of the people that he served with."
Vance also criticized Walz's gun control stance, questioning, "He said, 'We shouldn't allow weapons that I used in war to be on America's streets.' Well, I wonder, Tim Walz, when were you ever in war? When was this? What was this weapon that you carried into war, given that you abandoned your unit right before they went to Iraq, and he has not spent a day in a combat zone?"
...
Vance then launched into a critique of Walz's military service: "As a marine who served his country in uniform 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. I did what they asked me to do, and I did it honorably. 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, a fact that he's been criticized for aggressively by a lot of the people that he served with. I think it's shameful to prepare your unit to go to Iraq, to make a promise that you're going to follow through, and then to drop out right before you actually have to go."
Vance further criticized Walz's comments on gun control, saying, "He said, 'We shouldn't allow weapons that I used in war to be on America's streets.' Well, I wonder, Tim Walz, when were you ever in war? When was this? What was this weapon that you carried into war, given that you abandoned your unit right before they went to Iraq, and he has not spent a day in a combat zone? What bothers me about Tim Walz is the stolen valor garbage."
Tim Walz, like David French, seems to have a habit of misleading people into believing he served in combat.
Below, he declares he wanted to ban "weapons of war" like the weapons "he carried in war."
Spoiler alert: Tim Walz never saw "war" at all. He had an opportunity to see it in 2005 when his reserve unit was mobilized to deploy to Iraq, but he quit and left the unit he was supposedly "leading" in the lurch without a leader.
"Full Metal Stolen Valor," streiff calls it.
Meanwhile, Walz's rebuttal to Vance over this "stolen valor garbage" is... attacking Vance for using the GI Bill, as every GI does, to pay for his college education.
Isn't that the entire point of the GI Bill?
Or is Walz claiming JD Vance only signed up to fight in Iraq for the educational benefits? Gee, I sure think there are easier ways to pay for college than going to a warzone. Pell Grants, you know?
Meanwhile, Democrats are claiming that Iraq War veteran (for real) JD Vance did serve in the military or in a warzone.
As a commenter wrote:
Ancient slag, Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN) said this to Jim Acosta on CNN:
"Well, here is Tim Walz, who enlisted when he was 17 years old," she said of Vice President Kamala Harris's running mate. "He served in the National Guard for 24 years, and I'm not aware of any military service that J.D. Vance has ever served, so let's just make the comparison there."
Acosta did correct her but I'm sure it killed him to do it.
The Party of Science. The Party of Genius.