In issues like Governor Walz’s military record, it’s best to let the facts come out before commenting. Liberals don’t seem to understand that. Nor do they care.
Last week, in the immediate aftermath of Governor Tim Walz being selected as Kamala Harris’s running mate, questions were raised over his service in the Minnesota National Guard. Almost immediately a college friend posted this on their Facebook page, a meme from a leftist group called VoteVets (I cleaned the profanity off).
In countless “crises of the week,” (see George Floyd, school shootings, etc.) I’ve commented, “Wait, let’s find out the facts first…” Liberals don’t seem to be restricted by reason. Remember ex-president Obama’s comments on “never let a good crisis go to waste.” The Democrats have an election to take, and nothing will stop them. But Governor Walz’s claims on his military record are questionable at best.
Governor Walz claims he put his retirement papers in months before his battalion received mobilization orders, and that he did not know of the pending deployment. In the immortal words of Dr. Evil, “Right…” Hundreds of thousands of National Guardsmen and Reservists have deployed since 2001. Everyone knew months before the mobilization order was issued that deployment was coming. We like to give service members as much advanced notice as possible so they have time to prepare to be away for a year or more.
A battalion command sergeant major (CSM), the senior non-commissioned officer (NCO) of the battalion, the Commander’s “right arm,” would know months before actual orders arrived. His job would include ensuring the company first sergeants and other senior NCOs were prepping their people for deployment. If he didn’t know, calling then CSM Walz incompetent would be generous. If he did know (and he did, let’s be frank here), he’s a bald-faced liar.
The other part of the screed from VoteVets is Mr. Walz is a retired CSM and is not committing an act of stolen valor by referring to himself as such. A politician embellishing his record is understandable. The members of this “veterans’ group” (giving VoteVets more credit than they deserve) has enough experience and knowledge to know that is (I’ll be polite here) “incorrect.” Any one of them know (or should know) a promotion to sergeant major is conditional upon completing the Sergeant’s Major Academy.
For active component soldiers, it’s nine months at Fort Bliss TX. For Reservist and Guardsmen, the Distance Learning program is 18-24 months, depending on how much effort you can put into the program. When then Master Sergeant Walz accepted his promotion, he knew he had to complete the program for the promotion to become final, also he has to hold the rank for three years to retire at it. He did neither, so the Minnesota Guard demoted him upon his retirement. From the Washington Post, not exactly the mouthpiece of the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy or the Trump campaign headquarters (emphasis mine):
“Walz and his political allies also have inaccurately described him as a retired command sergeant major, one rank higher than he holds in retirement. Walz himself did so in a video clip from 2006 that was surfaced by C-SPAN on Tuesday and in a 2018 clip posted on his own YouTube account.
‘I’m a retired sergeant major in the Army and the Army National Guard,’ he told a group of voters in the latter video.
Though Walz did achieve the rank of command sergeant major, it was a provisional rank until he completed required coursework for senior leaders, National Guard officials said. He did not do so by the time he departed the military and his retirement rank reverted to master sergeant on May 15, 2005, officials said. Walz retired the next day.”
From an associate of AFNN Managing Editor Mike Ford, two documents that detail Mr. Walz’s exit from the Minnesota National Guard. On the left is the Mr. Walz’s National Guard Bureau (NGB) Form 22 (discharge statement), showing him retiring as a CSM (date of promotion 4/1/05) on May 16, 2005. On the right is his NGB Form 22A (Correction to NGB Form 22), dated 9/10/05. It shows the rank CSM changed to MSG (Master Sergeant), his paygrade changed from E9 to E8, and his date of rank changed to 4/1/04 (his original promotion date to MSG).
I’ve reviewed the Stolen Valor Acts of 2005 and 2013. Calling Mr. Walz inaccurate description of himself as a CSM, “stolen valor,” is in my opinion, a bit of a stretch. He did hold the rank, but Walz did not retire at it. I’ve seen stolen valor before (An ex-member of my motorcycle club was an extreme example of it, basically making herself out to be Aubrey Murphy when she was a cook who never deployed). No question, he is lying about his retired rank. He lied about his actions when Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey asked for National Guard support during the George Floyd riots (I wonder is he play fiddle in the governor’s mansion). He lied about being in combat, where “assault weapons belong.” From the Washington Post article above. His words,
On Wednesday, Walz also came under scrutiny for saying during a gubernatorial campaign event in 2018 that “we can make sure those weapons of war that I carried in war” are not on America’s streets. Walz did not serve in combat, according to the Minnesota Army National Guard, and his Republican counterpart jumped on those comments.
To put Mr. Walz’s words into context, he did deploy to Europe with his battalion, but he would not be using an M-16 rifle or M9 pistol anywhere outside the range. Governor, we all know what you implied there. Even for a politician, that is bad.
So what do we say about Governor Walz’s record in the National Guard, and his integrity. He served honorably, if not distinguishably, for 24 years (having his highest award, an Army Commendation Medal, does not reflect on the efforts of most senior NCO’s over the years). Deciding to get out just as his battalion was preparing to deploy shows he was more concerned about getting a congressional seat than serving his country. It also indicates cowardice on his part. Unlike his deployment in 2003 to Europe, there was actual shooting going on in Iraq. With his having no issue of lying through his teeth about his time in the National Guard shows he will not let anything prevent advancing his career.
How to sum this up. Looking at his running mate Vice President Harris and her (un) distinguished record prior to arriving in Washington, followed by her disastrous term being one heartbeat away from the presidency, I must say it. Governor Walz is a perfect match.
Michael A. Thiac is a retired Army intelligence officer, with over 23 years experience, including serving in the Republic of Korea, Japan, and the Middle East. He is also a retired police patrol sergeant, with over 22 years’ service, and over ten year’s experience in field training of newly assigned officers. He has been published at The American Thinker, PoliceOne.com, and on his personal blog, A Cop’s Watch.
Opinions expressed are his alone and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of current or former employers.
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