The Controversy Around Tim Walz's Retirement From the Military, Explained

There's been some controversy surrounding Minnesota governor Tim Walz's retirement from the Army National Guard. Specifically, it has to do with the timing of when he left, the way in which his rank changed, and even a comment he later made about his experience in the military.

Kamala Harris's VP running mate also faces criticism from Donald Trump's VP running mate J.D. Vance about "stolen valor."

So what's going on, exactly? Let's break the whole thing down.

Walz, who retired from the Army National Guard in 2005 after 24 years, told the Library of Congress in 2009 for its Veterans History Project that his decision to retire came down to wanting to focus on a political career, which he said would've been hard to do thanks to the Hatch Act (i.e., an act that limits some political activities of federal workers).

"I left in April of 2005 — and this was, for me, just short of 25 years — and it was to run for this office," he said in the video interview, referring to his running for the House of Representatives for Minnesota's 1st congressional district.

"We were really concerned that were going to try and do both; there's always the Hatch Act and some of the things you have to be very careful of," he said, later adding: "I decided to retire and focus full-time on running for this office and of course in November 2006 won."

But in a letter posted to Facebook in 2018 (via the New York Post), two former command sergeant majors named Thomas Behrends and Paul Herr criticized Walz's decision to retire two months before he would have been deployed to Iraq, and said that Walz was well aware that he could have sought permission from the Pentagon to run for office while remaining on active duty.

They also alleged that Walz had assured his battalion that he would be joining them in Iraq, only to leave them "hanging" as he "slithered out the door," and that Walz didn't even complete the necessary paperwork needed to transition out of the military.

During his 24 years in the Army National Guard, Walz climbed the ranks to command sergeant major before he retired in 2005. However, because he didn't finish all of his training requirements, he instead retired as a master sergeant (a reduced rank) for benefits purposes, per Military.com.

In August 2024, Vance told rally-goers at a campaign event in Michigan that "what bothers me about Tim Walz is the stolen valor garbage. Do not pretend to be something that you’re not."

In this case, Vance was referring to a comment that Walz — who never saw combat during his service — made in 2018 after the Parkland high school shooting, in which Walz said, "We can make sure that those weapons of war, that I carried in war, is the only place where those weapons are at."

Because of these comments, Vance — who served four years in the Marines (including six months in Iraq) but also never saw combat — accused Walz of using "stolen valor."

However, Walz responded with a statement, explaining that "in his 24 years of service, the governor carried, fired, and trained others to use weapons of war innumerable times. Governor Walz would never insult or undermine any American's service to this country — in fact, he thanks Senator Vance for putting his life on the line for our country. It's the American way."