{"id":2320913,"date":"2024-08-08T04:02:01","date_gmt":"2024-08-08T08:02:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/tim-walz-inflated-his-military-rank-and-ducked-deployment\/"},"modified":"2024-08-08T04:09:53","modified_gmt":"2024-08-08T08:09:53","slug":"tim-walz-inflated-his-military-rank-and-ducked-deployment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/tim-walz-inflated-his-military-rank-and-ducked-deployment\/","title":{"rendered":"Tim Walz Inflated His Military Rank And Ducked Deployment"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ftim-walz-inflated-his-military-rank-and-ducked-deployment%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2320913&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The recent controversy surrounding Minnesota Governor \u2062Tim Walz \u2064has intensified following his selection \u200cas\u200b Vice President\u2063 Kamala\u200d Harris\u2019s running\u200b mate for the 2024 presidential election. The allegations focus on Walz&#8217;s \u200cmilitary \u200bservice record, specifically accusations of &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ive-been-with-some-of-you-when-weve-been-shot-at-biden-revives-story-of-being-under-fire\/\" title=\"\u2018I\u2019ve Been With Some Of You When We\u2019ve Been Shot At\u2019: Biden Revives Story Of Being Under Fire\">stolen valor<\/a>&#8221; from several former\u200d service members. These allegations \u2062stem from his\u200c conditional promotion\u2063 to \u200c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-admin-ignored-warnings-about-withdrawing-troops-from-afghanistan-military-leaders-say\/\" title=\"Military leaders say the Biden administration disregarded Afghanistan troop withdrawal warnings.\">command sergeant major<\/a> and \u200csubsequent demotion to master\u200d sergeant, raising \u2064doubts about\u200c his honesty in public \u2063statements regarding his\u200b military career.<\/p>\n<p>Walz initially enlisted in the Nebraska National\u2064 Guard in 1981\u200b and later transferred \u2064to the\u200c Minnesota National Guard, \u200bwhere he served part-time. After the September\u2062 11 attacks, \u200che reenlisted, accruing 20 years of eligible \u200cservice. He was conditionally promoted\u200c to \u2063command sergeant\u2063 major, meaning he had to \u2062fulfill specific obligations to\u2062 retain that rank. However, he retired abruptly\u200b after failing to complete these obligations, which \u2064led to the revocation of his \u200bpromotion in 2005, resulting in \u2063an \u200bofficial rank of master\u2064 sergeant.<\/p>\n<p>Critics, including Command Sgt.\u2063 Maj. Tom Behrends, who took over Walz\u2019s duties, have expressed\u200c strong disapproval, questioning Walz\u2019s leadership\u2064 and\u200d commitment, particularly as his\u200b retirement occurred shortly before the unit received a deployment order. This has led to concerns about whether Walz has misrepresented\u200c his \u2064military \u2062service,\u2062 which some \u200cobservers feel undermines his integrity.<\/p>\n<p>As a response to the \u2064backlash, Walz has \u200cadjusted his\u200c terminology in communications, often using qualifiers such \u200cas &#8220;former&#8221; \u2062command sergeant major\u200c or claiming to have &#8220;achieved&#8221; that rank. The\u2063 ongoing dialogue \u2063regarding his \u200bmilitary service emphasizes broader issues of\u2062 accountability\u200c and \u200btransparency \u2064for public \u2062officials.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>A firestorm has reignited around Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz after his selection as the running mate for Vice President Kamala Harris&rsquo; 2024 presidential bid. Allegations about his honesty with voters regarding his military service have plagued Walz before, and it is a concern that doesn&rsquo;t appear to be going away &mdash; especially if those who served with him have their way.<\/p>\n<p>Multiple former service members have <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/EWErickson\/status\/1820900327513534525\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">accused the governor of &ldquo;stolen valor&rdquo;<\/a> because he has repeatedly tried to couch his conditional promotion to command sergeant major and subsequent demotion to master sergeant. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/media-ignores-how-corruption-shaped-kamala-harris-affair\/\" title=\"Media Ignores How Corruption Shaped Kamala Harris&#039; Affair\">facts aren&#038;rsquo<\/a>;t really in dispute, but whether he is being forthcoming in his public statements is hotly disputed.<\/p>\n<p>Walz first enlisted in the Nebraska National Guard in 1981 as a young man and eventually transferred to the Minnesota National Guard. He continued to serve there part-time while teaching, eventually accruing 20 years of eligible service. In 2001, he reenlisted after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks with a six-year commitment.<\/p>\n<p>He was conditionally promoted to command sergeant major during this time, which placed him at risk of having the promotion revoked if he failed to complete his minimum length of service obligation and pass the Army&rsquo;s Sergeant Major Course. He elected to retire abruptly after about four years of total additional service and failed to complete his obligation. <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/StolenValor1\/status\/1820863640242684021\">In September 2005, the paperwork caught up with him<\/a>, and his promotion was officially rescinded.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Alleged Stolen Valor<\/h2>\n<p>The commonly accepted definition of stolen valor includes misrepresenting the scope of one&rsquo;s military service. For his part, the man who replaced Walz and eventually deployed to Iraq in his place &mdash; Command Sgt. Maj. Tom Behrends &mdash; claimed it is absolutely reflective of his character and integrity, saying, &ldquo;The public needs to know how pathetic his leadership was as a National Guardsman.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Behrends linked Walz&rsquo;s abrupt retirement to the fact that the unit had received a warning order to deploy only a few months before Walz&rsquo;s departure. &ldquo;He abandoned us. What the hell kind of leader does that? As soon as the shots were fired in Iraq he turned and ran the other way and hung his hat up and quit,&rdquo; Behrends said.<\/p>\n<h2>A Closer Look at Walz&rsquo;s Service Record<\/h2>\n<p>To understand the issue fully, it&rsquo;s important to understand the distinction between &ldquo;frocking&rdquo; and a conditional promotion. Frocking is a military tradition where service members are allowed to assume the duties and responsibilities of a higher rank before the official promotion becomes effective. Notably, they do not receive the full benefits or privileges afforded by the higher rank until the promotion is final.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The conditional promotion, however, immediately confers all the benefits and privileges of the higher rank but lays out certain obligations that the service member must promise to fulfill or his promotion will be rescinded. This is what happened in the case of Walz&rsquo;s short-lived promotion to command sergeant major. He wasn&rsquo;t given a temporary privilege that expired when he left the service, but he was retroactively demoted in accordance with the agreement he signed and failed to live up to. His paperwork shows he retired as a master sergeant.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Digging deeper into the <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/StolenValor1\/status\/1820863640242684021\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">NGB Form 22, Report of Separation and Record of Service for Walz<\/a>, his date of rank for his promotion to command sergeant major (E9) was April 1, 2005. His date of discharge was May 16, 2005. Only 46 days had elapsed. Given the National Guard is a part-time job, one would be forgiven for wondering if this was even enough time to have new insignia sewn on all his uniforms. The official government paperwork marking his demotion was processed approximately four months later on Sept. 10.<\/p>\n<p>Yet Tim Walz campaigned and marketed himself as a &ldquo;retired&rdquo; command sergeant major until the backlash caused him to fine-tune his messaging: In most of his literature now he&rsquo;s careful to refer to himself as a &ldquo;former&rdquo; command sergeant major. In some places, he uses an &ldquo;achieved the rank of&rdquo; modifier to provide a fig leaf of plausibility to his puffery. His <a href=\"https:\/\/mn.gov\/governor\/about-gov\/timwalz\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">official Minnesota biography<\/a> still refers to him as &ldquo;Command Sergeant Major Walz.&rdquo; Presumably, most ordinary voters won&rsquo;t notice the sleight of hand, but one wonders why he doesn&rsquo;t just say <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/morning-wire-group-of-veterans-rescues-hundreds-of-american-allies-judge-blocks-unvaccinated-mom-from-seeing-son-movie-theaters-consider-vaccine-mandates\/\" title=\"Morning Wire: Group Of Veterans Rescues Hundreds Of American Allies, Judge Blocks Unvaccinated Mom From Seeing Son, Movie Theaters Consider Vaccine Mandates\">retired master sergeant<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Surely command sergeant major sounds much better than master sergeant. Maybe that&rsquo;s been the point all along. But his insistence on maintaining his eligibility to use the rank of command sergeant major as part of his biography appears to be more about avoiding an embarrassing walk-back than anything.<\/p>\n<h2>Does it Really Matter?<\/h2>\n<p>A month out from the 2018 gubernatorial election, when Walz was ahead by 10 points, the news service of Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mprnews.org\/story\/2018\/10\/03\/tim-walz-national-guard-career-minnesota-governor-race\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">attempted to absolve him of the controversy<\/a> by quoting a Minnesota National Guard public affairs officer, who as a guardsman technically worked for the incumbent Democrat governor and would soon work for the incoming Walz. She approvingly said, in the words of MPR, that &ldquo;it is legitimate for Walz to say he served as a Command Sergeant Major.&rdquo; But is a mid-level PR representative with conflicted loyalties really the authority on the issue?<\/p>\n<p>Did the Harris camp vet any of this, or in their inexperience did they fall for the same gambit Walz pulled on his Minnesota voters and simply see &ldquo;military service&rdquo; and consider the box checked?<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      For nearly 20 years, Matt Beebe served as a countermeasures engineer in the Air Force and a contractor in the intelligence community before launching an IT and computer security firm in San Antonio, Texas. He is active in Texas politics and can be found on Twitter @theMattBeebe.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A controversy has resurfaced surrounding Minnesota Governor Tim Walz following his selection as Vice President Kamala Harris&#8217;s running mate for the 2024 presidential election. Concerns about his honesty regarding his military service have haunted Walz in the past, and these issues seem unlikely to dissipate\u2014particularly if those who served alongside him have their say. Several former service members have accused him of &#8220;stolen valor&#8221; due to his attempts to downplay a conditional promotion to command sergeant major and subsequent demotion back to master sergeant. While the facts are largely undisputed, there is significant debate over whether he has been transparent in his public statements.<\/p>\n<p>Walz began his military career by enlisting in the Nebraska National Guard in 1981 before transferring to the Minnesota National Guard, where he served part-time while working as a teacher, ultimately accumulating 20 years of eligible service. After the September 11 attacks in 2001, he reenlisted with a six-year commitment and was conditionally promoted to command sergeant major during this period\u2014a promotion that could be revoked if he did not fulfill certain obligations or complete required training. He chose to retire abruptly after about four years of additional service without meeting these obligations, leading to an official rescission of his promotion in September 2005.<\/p>\n<p>The term &#8220;stolen valor&#8221; typically refers to misrepresenting one\u2019s military experience. Command Sgt. Maj. Tom Behrends, who took over Walz&#8217;s position and later deployed overseas, criticized Walz\u2019s leadership during their time together: \u201cThe public needs to know how pathetic his leadership was as a National Guardsman,\u201d Behrends stated, linking Walz&#8217;s sudden retirement with an impending deployment order for their unit just months prior.<\/p>\n<p>To fully grasp this issue requires understanding the difference between &#8220;frocking&#8221; (where individuals assume higher rank duties before official promotion) and conditional promotions (which grant immediate benefits but require fulfillment of specific obligations). In Walz\u2019s case, he received all privileges associated with being command sergeant major but failed to meet conditions that would allow him to retain that rank upon retirement; thus he officially retired as a master sergeant.<\/p>\n<p>Examining official records reveals that Walz was promoted on April 1, 2005 but discharged just weeks later on May 16\u2014only 46 days had passed since this promotion took effect. Given that National Guard positions are part-time roles, it raises questions about whether there was sufficient time for any changes such as new insignia on uniforms before his departure from service.<\/p>\n<p>Despite this timeline discrepancy and backlash against how he&#8217;s presented himself publicly\u2014as \u201cretired\u201d command sergeant major\u2014Walz has adjusted some language around this claim; now often referring instead as \u201cformer\u201d or using phrases like \u201cachieved the rank of.\u201d His official biography still lists him as &#8220;Command Sergeant Major Walz,&#8221; which may mislead voters who might not catch these nuances.<\/p>\n<p>As for whether it truly matters: A month before winning the gubernatorial election in 2018 while leading by ten points in polls at that time, Minnesota Public Radio attempted damage control by quoting a conflicted source from within the Minnesota National Guard asserting it was acceptable for Walz to describe himself using that title\u2014but does such endorsement hold weight? Did Harris&#8217;s team adequately vet these claims or simply accept them at face value due solely because they indicated military experience?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2120,"featured_media":2320914,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Tim-Walz-Sworn-In.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[6733,23437,37501,5894,36113],"class_list":["post-2320913","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist","tag-controversy","tag-deployment","tag-military-rank","tag-politics","tag-tim-walz"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Tim-Walz-Sworn-In.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2320913","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2120"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2320913"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2320913\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2320914"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2320913"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2320913"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2320913"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}