WASHINGTON – Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz's Army National Guard service has become an immediate target of Republican Donald Trump's campaign, with running-mate JD Vance, also a veteran, attacking Walz's retirement from the military prior to his battalion's deployment to Iraq.
Walz, the governor of Minnesota and a former congressman, joined the National Guard out of high school at 17 years old on April 8, 1981 and served until May 16, 2005. Walz has said he retired from the guard to run for Congress, which he did successfully in 2006.
The alert order for Walz's unit to mobilize for Iraq was received on July 14, 2005 − almost two months after Walz had retired − and the unit mobilized Oct. 12, 2005, according to the Minnesota National Guard. But according to past press statements, Walz appeared to know as early as March 2005 that his battalion could be sent to Iraq.
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Vance raised Walz's departure from the military Wednesday while campaigning in Shelby Township, Michigan, comparing their military records. Vance joined the Marines in 2003 and served as a combat correspondent – or military journalist – until 2007. Vance was deployed toIraqfor six months in late 2005 to serve in public affairs.
"When the United States of America asked me to go to Iraq to serve my country, I did. I did what they asked me to do, and I did it honorably, and I'm very proud of that service," Vance said. "When Tim Walz was asked by his country to go to Iraq, you know what he did? He dropped out of the army and allowed his unit to go without him."
Vance added: "What bothers me about Tim Walz is the 'stolen valor' garbage. Do not to pretend to be something you're not."
Vice President Kamala named Walz her running-mate Tuesday, with the campaign highlighting his Midwest, working-class biography and military service.
Vance's attacks have drawn comparisons to the unsubstantiated "Swift Boat" claims against Democrat John Kerry in the 2004 presidential race against President George W. Bush. The group Swift Boat Veterans for Truth challenged Kerry's decorated Vietnam War record. Chris LaCivita, a senior adviser to the Trump campaign, led the Swift Boat campaign attacking Kerry in 2004.
Vance seized on past remarks from Walz in support of gun control shared Tuesday on social media by the Harris campaign in which the governor said, "We can make sure that those weapons of war that I carried in war is the only place where those weapons are at."
"I wonder, Tim Walz, when were you ever in war?" Vance said Wednesday. "What was this weapon that you carried into war given that you abandoned your unit right before they went to Iraq?"
In a statement to USA TODAY, Harris campaign spokesman Ammar Moussa reiterated that Walz retired in 2005 to run for Congress, where he later chaired the House Veterans Affairs Committee.
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In response to Vance saying Walz never carried a weapon into war, Moussa said: "Inhis 24 yearsofservice, the Governor carried, fired and trained otherstouse weaponsofwar innumerable times.Governor Walz would never insult or undermine any American's servicetothis country −infact, he thanks Senator Vanceforputting his lifeonthe lineforour country. It's the American way."
A review of Walz's old website from his run for Congress − still preserved online − shows a March 20, 2005, news release from the Walz congressional campaign stating that the National Guard public affairs office on March 17 of that year announced a "possible partial mobilization of roughly 2,000 troops from the Minnesota National Guard."
According to the archived news release, the public affairs office notified that "all or a portion of Walz's battalion could be mobilized to serve in Iraq within the next two years."
Walz is quoted in the release saying in March 2005, "I don't want to speculate on what shape my campaign will take if I am deployed, but I have no plans to drop out of the race." The final line in the news release reads, "If called to duty, Walz would leave behind his wife Gwen and four year old daughter, Hope."
Moussa said the Harris campaign had no further comment.
Former Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois − a Trump critic, Harris supporter and veteran of the Air National Guard − pushed back at Vance's criticism.
"JD served honorably, but he wasn’t kicking down doors. He was in public affairs. Which again, is fine and honorable. Tim, after he was eligible for retirement, retired. People do that," Kinzinger wrote on X, formerly Twitter. "If it was a real problem he would have been 'stop lossed' and prevented from retiring."
A stop-loss refers to the involuntary extension of an individual's activity duty service enforced by the Defense Department.
"If JD Vance is going to go after Tim Walz, I would suggest he take from his own military training, his own military experience," said Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, a Harris surrogate and also a military veteran. "Do not start with trying to attack that someone raised their hand to serve this country."
Walz rose to the rank of command sergeant major, but because he did not complete additional course work at the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy before leaving the National Guard in 2005, he retired as a master sergeant.
"You get to sergeant major because you have a track record of taking care of your people," Moore said in an interview on MSNBC.
Walz mobilized with the Minnesota National Guard on Aug. 3, 2003, in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, whose primary mission was the Afghanistan War but also had counterterrorism roles in other regions.
His 1st Battalion of the 125th Field Artillery supported security missions in Europe and Turkey, according to a statement from Lt. Col. Kristen Auge, a spokesperson for the Minnesota National Guard.
Walz was stationed at Vicenza, Italy, during his deployment and returned to Minnesota in April 2004, Auge said.Walz started his service in the Nebraska National Guard and finished at the Minnesota National Guard.
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Walz's Republican opponents in Minnesota have criticized his exit from the military in the past, including during his 2018 and 2022 runs for governor.
In an open letter in 2018, Minnesota National Guard veteran Thomas Behrends accused Walz of pushing "embellished and selectively omitted facts" about his military service. The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported that Behrends was passed over for the promotion to command sergeant major that went to Walz and described him as a "longtime critic of the governor."
Retired Maj. Gen. Randy Manner, who held top positions with the National Guard Bureau and said he does not know Walz but plans to vote for the Harris-Walz ticket, called the controversy manufactured. Walz would have filed his papers for retirement long before his unit received official notice that they were being mobilized for deployment. The retirement papers Walz filed take five to nine months to process, Manner said.
“The idea that a man who served his country honorably for 24 years somehow ‘cut and run’ because he retired from the Guard in his 40s to pursue his next phase of life is an insult to him and everyone else who also served their nation so honorably," Manner said.
Walz acknowledged he never saw combat in a 2018 interview with Minnesota Public Radio.
"I know that there are certainly folks that did far more than I did. I know that," Walz said at the time. "I willingly say that I got far more out of the military than they got out of me, from the GI Bill to leadership opportunities to everything else."
Reach Joey Garrison on X, formerly Twitter, @joeygarrison.
