Tim Walz accused of dodging deployment by Minnesota National Guard vets: 'Feathered his own bed'

Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz is facing scrutiny for misleading America about his military record, with one of his fellow guardsmen accusing him of lying about his rank and experience. 

Minnesota National Guard Command Sgt. Maj. Paul Herr (Ret.), who accused Walz of misleading voters about his military service in 2018, joined "Fox & Friends" Thursday to discuss why veterans have accused the governor of "stolen valor."

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"He continually claims that he's a retired [sergeant] major. He is not, he is a retired master sergeant," Herr told host Steve Doocy. 

Herr recalled that Walz told other soldiers that he would be going on deployment to Iraq while "at the same time having backroom conversations with other people, other entities inside the Minnesota National Guard, to ensure that he could retire."

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Walz's service concluded when he retired from his unit in the Minnesota National Guard right before they deployed to Iraq in 2005, the New York Post reported. The Minnesota National Guard told Fox News Walz's unit was not given deployment orders to Iraq until July and he had put his retirement papers in five to seven months prior to his retirement in May 2005.

The VP nominee is described as a retired "command sergeant major" in his governor's website biography and has also claimed he carried a gun "in war," despite never experiencing active combat.

But critics, including Herr and Ret. Command Sgt. Maj. Thomas Behrends, a former member of Walz's battalion, have pushed back on those claims. 

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"He's used the rank that he never achieved in order to advance his political career," Behrends told "The Ingraham Angle" on Wednesday. "I mean, he still says he's a retired command sergeant major to this day, and he's not. He uses the rank of others to make it look like he's a better person than he is."

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But Herr argued the most shameful portion of the controversy was his motive to "feather his own bed."

"He subverted the chain of command, and he went around the chain of command. The brigade [sergeant] major had no clue. These are all important facts, and he did it to continually feather his own bed… That was the shameful part of it," Herr said. 

"And then, of course, he never entered into the Sergeant Majors Academy. He never did one scrap of work. That takes years." 

"He signed a commitment letter saying that he was going to do that job. He didn't, and he was stripped of that title when he left the Minnesota National Guard, yet he still claims to do it."

Behrends said Walz had been promoted to command sergeant major in 2004, but claimed he was required to serve two additional years or the promotion would be void. His early retirement terminated the promotion, reducing his rank to master sergeant, Behrends said.

"What he did, basically, was he quit," he said. "He didn't complete that condition of doing two years after graduation, so he gets reduced to a master sergeant, and that's what he is right now, is a retired master sergeant."

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Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz arrive at a campaign rally in Philadelphia, Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

The Minnesota National Guard released a statement on the controversy. 

"Governor Tim Walz served from April 8, 1981, to May 16, 2005... He held multiple positions within field artillery... and culminated his career serving as the Command Sergeant Major for the battalion. He retired as a Master Sergeant in 2005 for benefit purposes because he did not complete additional coursework at the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy," it read. 

Herr wasn't satisfied with that response, calling it a "very political answer."

"He didn't complete the course work because he never entered into it. It's misleading… It sounds like he missed the last test or something. He didn't do that… He didn't do anything."

Fox News' Yael Halon contributed to this report. 

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