Vance has slammed Walz’s military record. Here’s what you need to know: NPR

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Late Tuesday afternoon, the Harris campaign released a video of Tim Walz speaking about gun control. Walz, who Kamala Harris recently announced as her running mate, talks about banning assault rifles as part of what he calls “common sense” proposals.

“We can make sure that those weapons of war, that I took to war, are the only place they are,” Walz said in the video.

That was all Republican vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance needed.

“Well, I wonder, Tim Walz, when have you ever been to war? When was this?” Vance said.

The vice presidential candidate is supposed to be an attack dog, sometimes landing the lowest blows that might seem unpresidential. But Vance and Walz are also both veterans, with another thing in common: Neither has fought. Their service has strengthened each ticket, adding a military credential alongside two presidential candidates who have never served. It didn’t seem like a big deal. But in this compressed campaign season, Walz’s wording opened up a line of attack, and the Trump campaign has seized on it, accusing the Minnesota governor of one of the most serious charges possible in military circles.

War, Combat and Service – and a Charge of “Stolen Valor”

Walz enlisted in the National Guard at age 17 and served for 24 years, first in Nebraska and then Minnesota. During that time, he was called up for national disasters and a deployment to the Arctic Circle in Norway. He completed his 20-year retirement requirement in 2001, but then reenlisted after the Sept. 11 attacks. His only wartime deployment was to Italy in 2003, to replace troops deploying to Afghanistan. Then Vance and many veterans on social media took issue with Walz, saying he had taken weapons “to war.”

Harris’ campaign said in a statement: “In his 24 years of service, the governor has carried, shot, and trained others to use weapons of war countless times. Governor Walz would never insult or belittle any American’s service to this country, and instead, he thanks Senator Vance for putting his life on the line for our country. It’s the American way.”

But Vance went much further, with an attack that the Trump campaign had likely prepared.

“What was this weapon you took to war, given that you deserted your unit just before they went to Iraq, and he hasn’t spent a day in a combat zone? What bothers me about Tim Walz is the stolen valor garbage,” Vance said.

Since Walz first ran for Congress and then for governor, he has faced attacks as he nears retirement. Vance’s accusation echoes that of two fellow high-ranking sergeants in the Minnesota Guard who publicly attacked Walz in 2018, in a paid endorsement letter to the director of the Central-Western TribuneThey harshly criticized Walz for “conveniently retiring a year before his battalion was scheduled to deploy to Iraq.”

According to the Minnesota National Guard, Walz retired in May 2005, two months before his unit, the 1st Battalion, 125th Field Artillery, was ordered to stand down for mobilization to Iraq in July 2005. It is likely that Walz applied for retirement months before that May. It is also clear that the Guard was planning to deploy to Iraq months before July.

According to many of his contemporaries in the Guard, Walz described it as a difficult decision: If he took sides, he would lose his best chance at running for Congress.

“He weighed the decision to run for Congress very, very hard,” Allan Bonnifield, who served with Walz, told Minnesota Public Radio in 2018. “He loved the Army, he loved the Guard, he loved the Soldiers he worked with, and making that decision was very hard for him. Especially knowing that we were going to be on another deployment to Iraq. He didn’t make that decision lightly, not at all.”

The unit did not go to Iraq until March 2006, 10 months after Walz retired, where it remained for a grueling 22-month extended deployment. The accusation has dogged Walz, and in his latest run for governor in 2022, it was even raised by a political opponent who never served.

Walz’s Degree

The latest round of attacks on Walz has raised another confusing point about his rank. Walz served as a command sergeant major, the highest rank among soldiers. But his retirement papers put him one step lower: staff sergeant. The Minnesota National Guard told NPR that Walz retired before completing the academic requirements to retain the top rank.

“He served in a variety of roles in the field artillery, including battery fire chief, operations sergeant, first sergeant, and concluded his career as a battalion command sergeant major. He retired as a sergeant major in 2005 on a merit basis because he did not complete additional courses at the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy,” said Army Lt. Col. Kristen Augé, state public affairs officer for the Minnesota National Guard.

So while Walz can say he served as a command sergeant major, which also made him the highest-ranking member of Congress, and can even get away with saying he retired as a command sergeant major, he can’t say he’s a “retired command sergeant major.” The Harris campaign on Thursday changed Walz’s official bio on its website to reflect that.

Accusations of “swiftboating”

Attacking an opponent’s military service has a short history in presidential campaigns: The verb “swiftboat” dates back just 20 years, when George W. Bush’s campaign attacked John Kerry’s combat-decorated Vietnam service, which may have seemed risky since Bush avoided serving there. Donald Trump, who also avoided going to Vietnam, took the tactic to another level, attacking his Republican critic John McCain’s historic prisoner-of-war status. Now, Harris supporters say Vance is trying to “swiftboat” Walz, and they’re even pointing to a Bush-era campaign insider who now works for Trump.

Veterans groups have typically stayed out of the fray; many veterans service organizations have publicly praised the choice of two enlisted military veterans as vice presidential candidates.

“This means that, regardless of the outcome in November, the next vice president of the United States will be a former enlisted service member. I am pleased to see both major parties recognize that military service is again a valuable experience in choosing the nominee for the second-highest office in the country,” said National Commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Al Lipphardt in a statement.