Minnesota National Guard Disputes Walz’s Military Biography, Confirms He Didn’t Retire As Command Sergeant Major

The Minnesota National Guard has disputed Gov. Tim Walz’s claims about his military service, saying he did not retire as a command sergeant major as he has said.

In a statement to Just The News, a spokesperson for the Minnesota National Guard confirmed that Walz 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.”

Walz claimed he retired from the National Guard as a command sergeant major; the claim even appears in his official biography on the Minnesota government’s website (archived here). Yet other veterans have called out Walz’s story, saying he “embellished and selectively omitted facts” about his military career. Walz retired shortly after his unit was told it could be deployed to Iraq, but he didn’t adhere to his agreements as part of joining the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy. One of the stipulations for joining was that he served a specific time after his conditional promotion to command sergeant major, which Walz failed to do, thus resulting in him reverting to his lower rank of master sergeant.

Walz’s lower rank was valid from the moment he retired, meaning he retired as a master sergeant and not as a command sergeant major as he has claimed.

Army Lt. Col. Kristen Augé, Minnesota National Guard’s State Public Affairs Officer, gave Just The News a corrected biography for Walz’s military service.

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“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,” she told the outlet.

In an open letter posted to Facebook in 2018, retired Command Sergeants Major Thomas Behrends and Paul Herr wrote that Walz retired just a few months after receiving a warning order that his battalion would be deployed to Iraq – even though he told military personnel he would be going on the mission.

“On May 16^th, 2005, [Walz] quit, betraying his country, leaving the 1-125^th Field Artillery Battalion and its Soldiers hanging; without its senior Non-Commissioned Officer, as the battalion prepared for war,” Behrends and Herr wrote.

Walz’s sudden retirement complicated his selection to the United States Army Sergeants Major Academy, Behrends and Herr wrote. Once someone accepts enrollment, they agree to three stipulations: to serve two years after graduation from the academy or promotion, that failing the course could result in being kicked out of the military, and that they will be reduced to master sergeant if they don’t complete the course.

Walz wasn’t promoted to command sergeant major until September 17, 2004. A month earlier, he was photographed holding a protest sign outside a rally for President George W. Bush’s re-election campaign, though it doesn’t seem as though the military noticed or disciplined him.

Less than a year after his promotion, Walz retired, meaning his promotion was nullified since he broke the agreement he signed when entering the academy.

On September 10, 2005, Walz was reduced to master sergeant. As Behrends and Herr wrote, “It took a while for the system to catch up to him as it was uncharted territory, literally no one quits in the position he was in, or drops out of the academy.”