WASHINGTON, D.C. — John Kolb, a retired Minnesota National Guard colonel, knew Tim Walz by reputation as an “excellent leader” who adroitly guided the enlisted troops in his field artillery battalion. But Kolb was stunned by what he saw when Walz left the military and entered politics.
Walz retired from the National Guard in 2005 to run for Congress just before his unit received an order to mobilize for the war in Iraq. Then during the campaign, Walz overstated the rank he held at the point he left the service.
“That is not the behavior I would expect out of a senior noncommissioned officer,” Kolb said in an interview.
Those two sides of Walz’s service have been in the spotlight now that the Minnesota governor is the Democratic nominee for vice president. Supporters have lauded Walz’s 24 years of service in the National Guard, where he rose through the enlisted ranks and received an honorable discharge.
“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.”
Republicans have seized on criticism by Guard veterans as a major line of attack on Walz and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris. Some of that criticism, like Kolb’s, is measured. Others offer harsher appraisals.
It’s far from clear whether Republicans can turn Walz’s military record into a liability. His decades of service stand in contrast with former President Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee who received a series of deferments to avoid serving in Vietnam, including one attained with a physician’s letter stating that Trump suffered from bone spurs in his feet.
Trump’s running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, was a Marine Corps corporal, including six months as a military journalist in Iraq. After four years, he left the military for college and later a career in venture capital and as a best-selling author. Vance has led the criticism of Walz.
For many Democrats, the GOP salvos are an eerie reprise of the tactics used to sully their 2004 presidential candidate, John Kerry, by questioning his leadership as a swift boat commander in Vietnam, even though Kerry was a decorated combat veteran and his Republican opponent, President George W. Bush, did not fight in the war.
But the criticism of Walz stems not so much from his service record but from how he has characterized his time in uniform and how he ended his tenure.
An Associated Press review of Walz’s statements as a congressional candidate, congressman and governor shows that Walz has toggled between being precise and careless about key details.
By military standards, Walz’s 24 years of service is substantial. He could have retired almost three years earlier. But it is the circumstances surrounding the retirement and how it overlapped with his political ambitions that have drawn scrutiny.
Joe Eustice, who took over for Behrends as the 1st Battalion’s top enlisted soldier, said Walz was entitled to leave the Guard when he did.
“When you’ve given 24 years of your life, you get to decide, and your reasoning can be whatever you want it to be,” said Eustice, who retired in 2014.
But he is troubled by Walz’s statements after he left the Guard.
“He should answer to the fact that he said he carried a weapon in war and explain why he’s been saying he’s a retired sergeant major,” Eustice said. “Those two things are not true, and he should know better.”
