CNN
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Donald Trump’s running mate, Ohio Senator JD Vance, escalated his attacks on Minnesota Governor Tim Walz’s portrayal of his military career, accusing him of shirking deployment to Iraq when he left the Army National Guard in 2005 to run for Congress.
Vance also accused Walz of falsely claiming that he had served in a combat zone while the Democratic vice presidential candidate served in the Army National Guard.
Although Walz retired two months before his unit was ordered to deploy to Iraq, the attacks on Walz’s military record are part of a race by both parties to profile the relatively unknown governor after he was nominated as Kamala Harris’s vice presidential running mate on Tuesday. Walz’s 24 years of military service are one of several aspects of his record that appeal to voters Harris hopes to reach with his election – and that Republicans are trying to downplay by portraying him as an unworldly liberal.
Walz and Vance, the two vice-presidential candidates, are both war veterans, unlike their competitors.
Walz served in the Army National Guard for 24 years before retiring in 2005. That same year, he launched a campaign for Congress in Minnesota’s 1st Congressional District and was elected in November 2006.
At a campaign rally in Michigan on Wednesday, Vance accused Walz of abandoning his unit before its deployment to Iraq in 2006.
“When the United State Marine Corps, the United States of America, asked me to go to Iraq to serve my country, I did. I did what they asked of me, and I did it honorably, and I am very proud of that service. Do you know what Tim Walz did when his country asked him to go to Iraq? He left the Army and let his unit go without him,” Vance said.
On February 10, 2005, Walz filed with the Federal Election Commission as a candidate for Congress. The following month, as the National Guard announced a possible deployment to Iraq within two years, Walz’s campaign issued a statement saying he intended to stay in the race.
“I do not yet know whether my artillery unit will be part of this mobilization, and I cannot comment further on the details of the deployment,” Walz said in his March 2005 campaign statement.
“As Command Sergeant Major, I have the responsibility not only to prepare my battalion for Iraq, but also to serve when called upon. I am committed to serving my country to the best of my ability, whether in Washington, DC or Iraq,” he continued, adding, “I don’t want to speculate on what shape my campaign will take if I deploy, but I have no plans to drop out of the race. I am fortunate to have a strong group of enthusiastic supporters and a very dedicated and intelligent wife. Both will be an important part of my campaign whether I am in Minnesota or Iraq.”
According to the Minnesota National Guard, Walz retired from the Army National Guard in May 2005. In a 2009 interview with the Library of Congress, Walz said he left the Guard to focus on running for Congress, citing concerns about serving in the military and the Hatch Act, which restricts political activity by federal employees.
Military personnel often submit their pension papers months before their actual retirement date. It is unclear when Walz submitted his pension papers.
When asked when Walz filed his retirement paperwork, there was no immediate response from Harris’ campaign team.
A National Guard article about his unit’s deployment states that it received alert orders to deploy to Iraq in July 2005, two months after Walz retired. According to the unit’s history, the unit was first mobilized to Camp Shelby, Mississippi, in the fall of 2005 to prepare for deployment. It then deployed in March 2006 for 22 months, which the National Guard says was the longest continuous deployment of a military unit during U.S. operations in Iraq.
In his comments Wednesday, Vance also attacked Walz for his claim that he served in combat, accusing the governor of being “dishonest” in his claims about his service.
“He said – and by that he meant something about gun control – that we should ‘not allow weapons that I used in the war to be lying around on America’s streets,'” Vance said of Walz.
Vance pointed to a video shared on social media by Harris’ campaign on Tuesday in which Walz discusses his decision to change his position and support an assault weapons ban after the 2018 Parkland shooting.
“We can ensure that the weapons of war that I carried in war are the only place where those weapons are,” Walz said in the video.
According to a Minnesota Guard spokesman, Walz deployed with the Minnesota National Guard in Vicenza, Italy, in August 2003 to support the U.S. war in Afghanistan. He was not deployed to Afghanistan or Iraq or to a combat zone as part of his service.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Harris’ campaign said: “In his 24 years of service, the Governor has carried, fired and trained others in the use of weapons of war countless times. Governor Walz would never insult or belittle any American’s service to this country – in fact, he thanks Senator Vance for risking his life for our country. That is the American way.”
Vance served for four years in the Marine Corps as a combat correspondent and public affairs officer and was deployed to Iraq once for about six months, according to his military record. He left the service in September 2007 as a corporal.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre dismissed Vance’s criticism when asked about it on Wednesday.
“This is someone who enlisted at 17 to serve his country. He was part of the Army National Guard for 24 years. And this is someone who was a high school teacher, right?” Jean-Pierre said. “And a high school coach on top of that, who grew up in a small town in the Midwest. I think his biography speaks for itself, who he is speaks for itself, his accomplishments speak for themselves, and beyond that I’m just not going to say anything.”
This is not the first time that Walz’s military career has been criticized. The Minnesota governor was criticized for leaving the National Guard in 2022 by his Republican opponent, who held a press conference with veterans in the closing stages of the campaign, according to the Star Tribune.
Walz defended his service at the time.
“We all do what we can. I’m proud to have been here for 24 years,” Walz told the Minnesota newspaper. “I’ve had an honorable career.”
Criticism of his military career from within his own country during his gubernatorial campaign also focused on his rank at the time of his retirement.
Walz reached the rank of command master sergeant, but officially retired as a master sergeant – one rank below command sergeant major – because he “failed to complete additional courses at the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy,” according to the Guard.
Joseph Eustice, a 32-year-old veteran who commanded the same battalion as Walz, told the Star Tribune in 2022 that Walz did nothing wrong when he left the Guard.
“He was a great soldier,” Eustice said. “When he decided to go, he had every right to do so.”
This story has been updated with additional reporting on the timing of Walz’s service and information on his unit’s possible deployment to Iraq.
CNN’s Edward-Isaac Dovere and Natasha Bertrand contributed to this report.
