National Guard confirms Walz lied about retirement rank
Vice President Kamala Harris has to be feeling major regrets for picking Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D), given the amount of controversy that has erupted regarding his military service record.
Walz, in several ads, wants people to believe that he retired at a certain higher rank than he actually did.
However, according to Breitbart, it was confirmed that Walz did not retire at the Command Sergeant Major rank that he has claimed in his ads and in person.
For the record, he retired at a rank lower than that, according to the National Guard.
What's going on?
While many had already came forward and assured the press that Walz did not retire as a CSM, one of the highest enlisted ranks, it took a National Guard officer to say it for it to be believed by all the press.
In a statement issued by Minnesota National Guard Director of Manpower & Personnel Army Col. Ryan Cochran, it was confirmed that Walz retired as a Master Sergeant.
"Governor Tim Walz received his notification of eligibility for retirement on August 3, 2002. He was promoted to sergeant major (E-9) on September 17, 2004, and immediately began serving as the command sergeant major for the 1st Battalion, 125th Field Artillery while his packet was submitted to the National Guard Bureau to appoint him to command sergeant major (E-9)," Cochran wrote.
He added, "Once approved by NGB, he was laterally appointed to command sergeant major (E-9) on April 1, 2005. He retired from the Minnesota National Guard on May 16, 2005."
Just got an email from a reader asking for the "link" to the statement from the Minnesota National Guard saying Tim Walz's rank was reduced to master sergeant a DAY BEFORE he retired -- below is the emailed press statement I and other reporters got. pic.twitter.com/X5gSnHU6OD
— Kristina Wong 🇺🇸 (@kristina_wong) August 18, 2024
"Our records do not indicate when he made his request to retire. Leadership reviews and approves all requests to retire. He was administratively reduced to master sergeant (E-8) on May 15, 2005, because he did not complete all required U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy coursework."
Stolen Valor?
Walz has spent a considerable amount of his political career claiming that he retired at the CSM level, which simply wasn't true.
Breitbart reported:
And despite serving in a command sergeant major role provisionally and having that rank rescinded, he put the rank on coins he handed out as a congressman, and on his then-Twitter bio.
In addition to lying about his ranks, Walz has also been caught lying about battlefield deployments.
Only time will tell what the next exposed lie will be.