Harris camp ducks questions on why Walz retired from military before completing coursework for high rank

The Harris campaign dodged answering questions about why Gov. Tim Walz did not complete the required coursework to retire from the Army National Reserves with the high-ranking title of command sergeant major – a rank he’s repeatedly claimed having attained despite retiring as a master sergeant.

Walz served 24 years with the Army National Guard, retiring in 2005 after he and his battalion were deployed to Italy in 2003 to support U.S. operations in Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. After returning from Italy, Walz was promoted to the command sergeant major rank, but he did not complete coursework with the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy to retain the rank in retirement. Walz instead retired as a master sergeant, one rank below command sergeant major.

Fox News Digital reached out to both the Harris campaign and Walz’s gubernatorial office to ask why Walz did not complete coursework with the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy before retiring from the Minnesota National Guard in 2005, and both did not provide comment to explain the decision.

Instead, the Harris campaign directed Fox Digital to a Minnesota Public Radio article from 2018, when a public affairs officer for the Minnesota National Guard told the outlet that "it is legitimate for Walz to say he served as a command sergeant major."

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"[The public affairs officer] said the rank changed because Walz retired before completing coursework at the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy along with other requirements associated with his promotion," the article explained. 

Fox News Digital again asked the campaign for comment as to why Walz did not complete the course work but did not receive a follow-up reply. 

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Last week, the Harris campaign updated its biography for Walz to omit a reference that he is a "retired Command Sergeant Major," correcting the bio to show Walz "served as a command sergeant major."

Walz’s military record with the Army National Guard has come under increasing scrutiny since last week, when Vice President Harris named the Minnesota governor as her 2024 presidential running mate. After the announcement, veterans began sounding off on social media and to the media with criticisms of Walz’s "stolen valor."

Walz has previously publicly used language suggesting that he deployed to war zones during his 24 years of service with the Army National Guard, including that he would like to ban the kind of guns he had "carried in war" and describing himself as a retired command sergeant major. Walz was never deployed to a combat zone in his decades of service. 

The Harris campaign said last week that Walz "misspoke" when he claimed he carried firearms "in war." 

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"In making the case for why weapons of war should never be on our streets or in our classrooms, the Governor misspoke," campaign spokesperson Lauren Hitt told the media. "He did handle weapons of war and believes strongly that only military members trained to carry those deadly weapons should have access to them, unlike Donald Trump and JD Vance who prioritize the gun lobby over our children."

Walz retired ahead of his unit – 1st Battalion, 125th Field Artillery – deploying to Iraq in 2005, and he launched a successful congressional run in Minnesota. Walz served in the U.S. House from 2007 until 2019, when he launched his campaign for Minnesota governor. He is currently serving his second term as the Gopher State’s governor. 

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"Walz left the National Guard in May 2005 after 24 years of service. His unit was not given deployment orders to Iraq until July. He had put his retirement papers in 5-7 months prior to his retirement in May," the Minnesota National Guard said in a statement last week as questions mounted around Walz’s military career.

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"Second, there are questions about whether he served in OEF. His battalion was sent to Europe, in his case Vicenza to train units in artillery – his specialty was artillery. If you are deployed overseas in support of OEF according to the National Guard you officially served in OEF, whether you touched foot in Afghanistan or not. That is in his official military service record below," the statement added.