Walz enlisted in the Nebraska Army National Guard (ANG) just after he turned 17 in 1981. For a personal point of reference, I enlisted in the Maryland ANG just after I turned 17 in 1975. All military branches have some kind of reserve force, with the Army and Air Force also maintaining National Guard components. The latter have kind of a dual state and Federal role, but all reserve forces are part time, typically in uniform one weekend a month and two weeks a year. There are some full time employees, and there is also an inactive reserve, in which people are on the rolls and liable to be called up, but otherwise don’t participate in the usual training exercises. Note that essentially all enlisted personnel attend Active Duty for Training at the very beginning- the storied "Boot Camp" and job specific school (Walz was trained in artillery, I was trained as a medic, for example)- and this is done in conjunction with the regular active military.

When Kamala Harris introduced her running mate on August 4^th.she lauded his lengthy service in the National Guard: “He is a veteran who served our nation in uniform for more than two decades as a member of the Army National Guard.” Walz played up his service, too: “For 24 years, I proudly wore the uniform of this nation. The National Guard gave me purpose.” That’s fine, but we shouldn’t forget that Democrats have (despicably) demeaned National Guard service in the past when attacking Republicans (think Dan Quale and George W. Bush), and as recently as May 2020, when the largest city in Minnesota, Minneapolis, was being convulsed by riots and arson, the mayor asked the Democrat governor to mobilize the National Guard. The governor trivialized the Guard stating, "I don’t think the mayor knew what he was asking for. He wanted the National Guard, and what does that mean? I think to the mayor, yes, it's a perception, I'm certainly not questioning that. (Walz said during a local Fox 9 interview) I think the mayor said, 'I request the National Guard, whew, this is great. We’re going to have massively trained troops.' No, you’re going to have 19-year-olds who are cooks.” That’s a pretty cynical remark; the governor just happened to be Tim Walz, who had “proudly (worn) the uniform…”

I completed my initial enlisted 6-year obligation around 1982 then entered the inactive reserve. By this time I had completed my education and obtained my professional licensure as a PA, and applied for and received an appointment as an Army Reserve Warrant Officer in 1983. I was active Reserve for a while, transferred to the inactive component, then was briefly active again in 1993-1994 in a NJ based Army Reserve unit. It was an awful unit (I asked a Major for permission to assemble the medics for training, and he responded, “Do what you want, I’m going to Burger King”), and I decided my service had had a good run and returned to the inactive reserve, having obtained rank of Chief Warrant Officer 3. Ten-plus years later I contacted the central Army personnel facility to ask about my status, and was told I had been “archived.”

Like Walz, I proudly wore the uniform. I did whatever I was required to do and served honorably, but never did anything of significance: not once was I mobilized, activated, or deployed, and the closest I came to a war zone was visiting the Gettysburg National Battlefield. Around the time of the first Gulf War (Desert Storm) I received a questionnaire asking if I was called to active duty, how long would it take me to report. The options included within a few weeks, months, etc, and I checked the box with the earliest time. A friend of mine, a fellow PA-Warrant Officer-Army Reservist took that as a clue and resigned.

The military has an official Code of Conduct that mostly pertains to surrendering and how to act if captured. There is also an unofficial code that should become part of anyone who served honorably in the military; it applies to being in uniform and extends into civilian life. For example I, as someone who never experienced combat, should absolutely never make a statement suggesting I did, such as, “We can make sure that those weapons of war that I carried in war, is the only place where those weapons are at.” This would be not only demeaning of my character, but enormously disrespectful of real combat veterans. Neither Tim Walz nor I served in combat, but he made this statement in 2018, 13 years out of the ANG and now a Democrat politician advocating for increased gun control. Curiously, the Democrats are immune from lying no matter how grievous or obvious the lie: the worst they do is misspeak, the excuse used to justify Walz’s lie. BTW, the primary weapon I trained with was the M16 rifle, replaced after my time by a variant called the M4. Both of these have automatic fire capability and therefore are not legal in the civilian world.

Another part of the Code is to not wear or display medals or emblems that were not earned. In the 1990s the highest ranking Admiral in the Navy, Micheal Boorda, committed suicide after it was discovered he wore two “V (valor) devices” he did not earn...this is not to be taken lightly! There are a number of badges denoting high accomplishment, for example the Combat Infantryman Badge, airborne wings, and the Special Forces badge. To see any of these either on a uniform or on some form on civilian attire worn former military people means a lot. Tim Walz tries to project a image of a down home country guy/outdoorsman, the kind of person you would chat with at the feed and seed store. Part of this persona is wearing a camouflage baseball cap. There is a 2018 photo of Waltz attending a Bruce Springsteen concert with some fellow Democrat politicos, wearing his trademark camo cap with a Special Forces emblem attached. Walz was never in the Special Forces, but perhaps it’s good Democrat politics to pretend he was.

One time in the mid-1990s the Medical Director where I worked, a medical doctor, took a weekday off and assigned to fill in for him. One of the staff MD’s, not the cream of the crop, was a little annoyed that a lowly PA was given that role (which was kind of fun), but the biggest thing I did was sign a leave slip, and I wasn’t inclined to put “served as Acting Medical Director” on my resume. Tim Waltz, after many years of service, became a senior non-commissioned officer, in his case an E-8 Master Sergeant, a very respectable rank. At some point he received a provisional promotion to an E-9 Sergeant Major, the highest of the enlisted ranks, but he didn’t fulfill the required training and when he retired (see below) he did so as a Master Sergeant. There is no shame in that, except he claimed he retired as a Sergeant Major. This is not a huge deal, such as clearly implying he was a combat veteran, but the question is, why in the world would he make such a claim? Could he simply not help inflating himself?

In 2003-2004 Waltz’s unit was activated and deployed to Italy in support of the war in Afghanistan, and he was there for nine months. On Sept. 11, 2021 he gave speech in which he mentioned a daughter went from two to three years-old while he was away, and moments later he mentioned witnessing a solemn casket ceremony at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. Though he likely was present at Bagram years later on a congressional junket, the implication was that he was in Afghanistan as part of his deployment in 2003-2004. Similarly, he appeared on C-Span after he was in congress (not sure the date) and his introduction included, “...and served with his battalion at Operating (sic) Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan,” to which Waltz clearly nodded his head in concurrence.

Perhaps the greatest controversy involves Walz’s retirement from the ANG shortly before his unit was activated to go to Iraq. At the time he was beginning his first run for congress. Per the Minnesota Star Tribune newspaper 8/10/24 (a “fact check” article that seems to favor Walz):

“Here’s the timeline: Walz’s congressional campaign issued a statement in March 2005 saying he still planned to run despite a possible mobilization of Minnesota National Guard soldiers to Iraq. Walz submitted his Guard retirement papers in May 2005. The unit’s first call-up notice came in July 2005, and the regiment deployed in March 2006.”

The Walz opposition claims he left the ANG knowing his unit was going to be activated in order to avoid going to Iraq. His supporters claim he retired from the ANG before it was official. The military reality is that orders being officially issued happens late in the game, and that, as noted above, Walz did understand he was likely to be called up before he retired.

I mentioned above a friend who resigned from the Army Reserve at the slightest chance of being called to active service. I never really thought this was due to cowardice, just that being in the Reserve was advantageous as long as it was convenient and didn’t interfere with his lifestyle and plans. I certainly don’t know the heart of Tim Walz in this regard (though many of his political positions are simply evil), but I suspect it wasn’t a question of being a coward, rather deployment would have interfered with his ambition: a yearning for political power and celebrity exceeded his sense of duty and honor. Many people likely don’t understand that those in the higher enlisted ranks- Sergeant First class, Master Sergeant, Sergeant Major- are supposed to be the epitome of “Follow Me!” The leaders that are with their soldiers no matter what and are tasked with ensuring their safety as much as possible within the demands of the mission. Tim Walz clearly abandoned his soldiers for personal and political gain when he was needed the most.

Predictably the mainstream media has been providing aid and comfort to the Harris/Walz campaign, with the usual “he simply misspoke,” ignoring the controversies, outraged that anyone would dare criticize, let alone question, the military record of such a gallant figure, etc. I’m clearly no fan of Waltz, but I am presenting these issues with reasonable objectivity. The campaign itself has done the expected, obfuscation, alteration of social media and websites to align with something closer to the truth, and in general is acting in concert with the adoring media.

On August 13^th, Walz came out with a truly pathetic statement in his own defense: “I’m going to say it again as clearly as I can: I am damn proud of my service to this country, and I firmly believe you should never denigrate another person’s service record.” This is like an executive at a large charity is caught embezzling money and defends himself by saying, “I’m damn proud of my years of service to this organization, and nobody has the right to criticize me or anyone else who has been devoted to the wonderful work we do!” Hey Tim, it’s not a question of your service, it’s a question of your deceit and your self-promoting BS.