John Kolb is a retired colonel in the Minnesota National Guard who says he knew Tim Walz by reputation as an “excellent leader” in his field artillery battalion. But Kolb says he was stunned by what he saw when Walz left the military in 2005 and ran for Congress just before his unit received an order to mobilize for combat in Iraq.
Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz speaks during the Democratic National Convention Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024, in Chicago. This photo provided by Thomas Behrends, a retired Minnesota Guard command sergeant major, shows him in Iraq in 2006-2007. Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz speaks during the Democratic National Convention Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024, in Chicago. Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov.
“What I know about Tim Walz is he did his job diligently,” said retired Minnesota National Guard Brig. Gen. Jeff Bertrang. “He was in charge of troops under him, and he made sure they were taken care of.”Senior NORAD Air Force commander nominated to be next National Guard Bureau chiefRepublicans have seized on criticism by Guard veterans as a major line of attack on Walz and Democratic presidential nomineeIt’s far from clear whether Republicans can turn Walz’s military record into a liability.
Walz’s supporters reject the criticism as politically motivated and say it denigrates the sacrifices he and other troops have made. The Harris campaign provided a letter signed by hundreds of veterans and military family members that said Vance’s broadsides against Walz are not surprising given reports that Trump
Walz was command sergeant major of the Minnesota Guard’s 1st Battalion, 125th Field Artillery for less than a year, according to the Guard’s personnel office. His rank was reduced for benefit purposes to master sergeant, a step below, when he left the Guard because Walz had not completed all the coursework necessary to hold the rank in retirement.
In January 2005, Walz attended a boot camp of sorts in Minnesota for people interested in careers in progressive politics. Walz, a teacher and avid pheasant hunter with blue-collar roots, stood out as a candidate who might win in the state’s strongly Republican 1st Congressional District.
Less than two months later, on May 16, 2005, Walz retired from the National Guard. His departure was not unusual. More than 730 senior enlisted soldiers with 24 years of service retired in 2005 when the U.S. was heavily engaged in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to Defense Department statistics.that Walz had assured him just weeks before that Walz would be going forward with the battalion.
Walz responded by saying the letter appeared to be an attempt to “slander my good name.” Walz wrote, incorrectly, that he retired as a command sergeant major, but accurately specified that he served on three NATO training missions and in Italy. Walz was equally clear about his wartime service in a 2009 interview with the Library of Congress’s Veterans History Project.
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