All of Tim Walz’s military service embellishments — from claiming he carried weapons in war to making people think he deployed to Afghanistan

NY Post ^ | 8/08/24 | Chris Nesi, Isabel Vincent

[Libloather]

In 2004, Tim Walz organized a protest outside a rally for President George W. Bush where he held up a sign that read “Operation Enduring Freedom Veteran 4 Kerry” — referencing the US fight against terrorists in Afghanistan.

The trouble is, in his 24 years in the Minnesota National Guard, Walz never deployed to combat zones in Afghanistan or Iraq. The closest he got was thousands of miles away in Italy. But it’s a label he used again and again — including in his official biography when he ran for Congress two years later in 2006.

That photo shows just one way that Walz, Kamala Harris’ VP pick, has repeatedly exaggerated and embellished his military record. Vice Presidential candidate JD Vance, a Marine Corps veteran who served in Iraq, accused the second-term governor of Minnesota of “stolen valor garbage.”

At least one former member of Walz’s National Guard unit who was deployed to Iraq took a dim view of the haphazard way in which the VP candidate has spoken about his service.

“It’s stolen valor,” said the former guardsman, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“He used very specific phrases on his website that would suggest to a civilian that he had been to Afghanistan. He carried signs protesting at a rally for George W. Bush saying he was part of Operation Enduring Freedom, which would signal that he had seen combat in Afghanistan when he hadn’t.”

The Harris-Walz campaign seemed to acknowledge the critics on Thursday when it scrubbed another contested claim about his service record from his official biography on its website — that Walz had retired as a command sergeant major.

(In fact, Walz actually retired from the military with the rank of master sergeant because he hadn’t completed the required additional coursework, the military said.)

[Libloather]

Kinda sounds like Tim has trouble telling the truth.

[Diogenesis]

it matters not. as Mr. Ed has informed us,
the majority of American horses will be forced
to vote for Walz (despite their fear),
and the DOJ will demand all horse-votes be counted.

[Dan_Frisbie]

Accusations of “Stolen Valor” and the “quitting before deployment” accusation are very dangerous.
During my career as a Naval Aircrewman, I was “officially” deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. In reality, I spent one night in Bahrain to be briefed on our assignment elsewhere. I could still claim to be part of that campaign.

Most senior enlisted members apply for retirement at least six months before we retire from duty. It is very likely that the SgtMaj was at the end of an enlistment contract and was told to either extend to make a deployment or retire. He chose to retire.

Again, I was in a similar situation. As the Senior Enlisted Advisor in a training squadron in Florida, I was approaching time to move to my next duty station, but didn’t have the time left on my enlistment and didn’t really want to go back up to Maine (It’s cold).
My Navy Detailer told me to either extend my enlistment to head North or submit my 1306 (retirement request). I submitted my request in March of 2004, ended my duty in November 2004 and officially retired (after using all my leave) in January 2005.

There are plenty of reasons to reject Tim Walz without going into this gray area.

[airborne]

My 82nd Airborne unit saw combat in Europe!

(I wasn't even born then, but WE were there!)

🤪

[Liz]

In photo, Walz is wearing a camo hat bearing the U.S. Army Special Forces crest. Walz was never a member of the Special Forces. Wearing a hat in support of such a prestigious organization is frowned upon in military veteran circles.

Walz’s slobbering at the public trough: multiple govt pensions, gold-plated health care, plus whatever he slobbed up took from the miliary $$grab bag.

$100,000 US House pension, $60,000 Social Security,$ 40,000 annual compounded interest [403(b) - 2 accounts], $ 40,000 gubernatorial pension, $ 30,000 National Guard retirement pay, total $270,000 annual tax dollars

[cgbg]

Walz never even told his commanding officer he was retiring.

He went over his head to file the paperwork.

Like everything with Walz the stench can be smelled a mile away.

[ABStrauss]

Don’t anyone tell Walz how stupid he looks waltzing onstage flinging his arms, clapping like a seal and bouncing about like a clown.

[Repeat Offender]

After your one night in Bahrain, did you walk around telling people how you carried your weapon into war and using such "combat" service to justify taking rights from others?

During my career as a Naval Aircrewman

Did you spend your post-Navy time letting on that you were a pilot or wearing a hat with a trident trying to pass yourself off as a Navy Seal?

As the Senior Enlisted Advisor in a training squadron in Florida, I

Were you actually the Senior Enlisted Advisor, or were you in a training class to become one, dropped out - never actually bestowed such a billet and then passed yourself off as the advisor for nearly the next ~20 years?

Were you frocked to a higher rank, fail to meet the requirements of that rank, then retired at the lower rank....and then spent two decades LYING and telling people you retired at the rank you were frocked

There are plenty of reasons to reject Tim Walz without going into this gray area.

There is no gray area. He embellished and intentionally lied and misled people regarding his service. Stop trying to defend the indefensible.

[silverleaf]

Both the unit Chaplain and Walz’s replacement have made it publicly clear Walz knew about the upcoming deployment and actually made an end run around chain of command to put in retirement papers. Both called him a coward. When the Chaplain publicly calls you out, you have to really be a piece of shite.
So no gray area on that.

And yes, providing support services from a barracks it Italy counts as “ support” to OEF. So technically, he did “ support” OEF but its clear from the archive articles, interviews and statements that Tiananmen Tim passed himself off as as a combat veteran, even alluding to sharing the suffering of PTSD.
The guy is at best a clown car Walter Mitty and at worst, an embellisher of his resume with the feats of other better men…to advance his political career.

[EVO X]

During my career as a Naval Aircrewman, I was “officially” deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. In reality, I spent one night in Bahrain to be briefed on our assignment elsewhere.

To get the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal(GWOT-EM) you have to have been deployed for 30 consecutive days or 60 non-consecutive days or get fired upon. There is another medal called the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal(GWOT-SM) That one is for individuals that aren't forward deployed to the trouble spots but support the effort. I think Walz would have this medal.

[Vaduz]

He’s a democrat hack it’s makes him a liar from the start about everything.

[Jumper]

He says he was a first sergeant, but if you have ever been an actual first sergeant/E-8 your retirement ID says first sergeant, and not Master Sergeant/E-8.

There has always been a huge distinction between a Master Sergeant and a First Sergeant. The US Army recognizes more highly the rank (not grade) of 1SG or First Sergeant over a Master Sergeant.

A first sergeant is higher in authority within the same company than a master sergeant. First sergeant is a leadership position and even a CSM/E-9 or SGM/E-9 assigned to the same company belongs to the 1SG for all training, logistics, and administration; however the E-9 can be the higher leader for purposes of the Battalion a CSM would be over the company 1SGs. Even a Battalion commander falls under a 1SG/First Sergeant for traning, logistics and administration at the company level to which they are assigned.

The reason some many claim 1SG is because it is literally the best, hardest job in the Army. You are the father figure and some are tryants, but when I go thru the Gates at Fort Liberty, NC (Bragg), the young soldiers always greet me as 1SG and everyone who rights with me say the young troops treat a 1SG differently at the gate from themselves. A colonel buddy of mine used to get mad that he got salutes but me a warm greeting.

Waltz is a thief and liar and he wants the recognition but he never held the actual position.

He was just some guy in a non-company level unit and they like to claim false valor within some detachments calling their Master Sergeants (position of Army assignment) and call themselves within the Unit a first sergeant. It is the kind of Bull Shit you get with Chairborne Rangers, 5-jump chumps, and college junior year rangers who never serve in a unit but wear the badge of qualification thru out their careers. In the airborne community, true leaders become the guys with a star or star and wreath over their parachutist wings - a jumpmaster.

Even a CSM or SGM will tell you they recognize the 1SG differently from a master sergeant. The Command Sergeant Major is in charge of a Battalion sized unit. The Staff Sergeant Major is a staff rat, similar to the master sergeant, who is not in a battalion or large leadership position - a SGM is more like a platoon sergeant at best or team leader less than a squad leader at worst for size of supervisory function.

Waltz is claiming false valor as claiming 1SG. Again if he had ever served as a 1SG it would be he Rank (1SG) not (MSG) besides his grade of Enlisted-8/E-8. He is a MSG/E-8 and was never a first sergeant.

Again, the Army reserves that distincition for those who have done the hardest but more personnaly satisfying position in the Enlisted Ranks.

[castlebrew]

Walz still had 2 years on his enlistment contract.

Lots of info out there, including statements from his Battalion Commander, Battalion Chaplain, and Brigade Command Sergeant Major.

Walz lied about deploying if ordered and bailed out on his troops. He dropped his retirement packet 2 months AFTER the alert notice.

Walz lied about deploying when running for Congress; never once getting a correction published/issued.

Unforgivable. Stolen Valor.

[cymbeline]

“There are plenty of reasons to reject Tim Walz without going into this gray area”

Thanks for the informative post.

[Gaffer]

It is very likely that the SgtMaj was at the end of an enlistment contract and was told to either extend to make a deployment or retire. He chose to retire.

Uh, no he wasn't 'close' on the last sign up for 6 years instead of the 4 he claimed. The only true fact is that he technically had enough time in to retire at some point. Further, this is the National Guard and his former CSM replacement is saying that he BYPASSED the regular Chain by two levels to put in his papers - unheard of..

And finally, actually saying (more than once) he carried weapons in time of war is just pure BS intended to make the listener believe he actually deployed to a combat area instead of Italy sucking up the local vino.

You can say it isn't Stolen Valor, but to my mind it's at least ABANDONED VALOR.

[Gaffer]

Indeed. Hear hear.

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

Why hasn’t anyone compared Walz to John Kerry?

Granted, the former is a small fry compared to Kerry’s blatant and grotesque offenses, like treason and falsely accusing other veterans of war crimes.

[bobbo666]

Also, he was telling such lies to the NPC types who watch only CNN and have the IQ of the Demo party base, ~85. What do you expect?

[Retain Mike]

This dust up reminds me of the bumper sticker I saw which said, “I was a Vietnam vet before it became popular”. So amusing after all these years of wearing shirts and hats from reunions to irritate people.

[EVO X]

Here is an interesting X post. I am not sure what I am looking at since it doesn’t say DD214. However, if it is accurate it just raises all the questions surrounding this guy. 1.) He still had an obligation of some form until Sep 2007. 2.) The decorations section doesn’t seem to mention any medals for serving in combat or at least nearby that would award him with an Expeditionary Medal..

https://x.com/StolenValor1/status/1820863640242684021