Tim Walz’s Successor in National Guard Penned Private Letter Asking Him to Stop Claiming Rank He Didn’t Have ‘For Political Gain’

AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File

Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz’s successor in the National Guard penned a private letter to Walz eight years ago asking him to stop claiming to hold a military title he didn’t earn, according to an ABC News report.

Walz is facing allegations that he has habitually exaggerated his military record.

In one instance in 2016, Walz nodded along as a panel moderator introduced him as a veteran who “Enlisted in the Army National Guard at 17 and retired 24 years later as Command Sergeant Major” as well as “served with his battalion in Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan” despite the fact that he lost that rank by retiring when he did nor did he serve in Afghanistan.

Walz retired in 2005 to run for Congress and appeared to be aware his unit was being considered for deployment as his campaign later announced that “As Command Sergeant Major I have a responsibility not only to ready my battalion for Iraq, but also to serve if called on. I am dedicated to serving my country to the best of my ability, whether that is in Washington DC or in Iraq.”

Critics, including some from Walz’s own unit, have charged him with abandoning it as it was finally sent into a combat zone. Those critics include Thomas Behrends , who took over Walz’s battalion when he retired back in 2005.

“At the point when he quit, the balloon was deflated and all the soldiers out here, basically it was like one of their main senior leaders had died,” Behrends told ABC. “They couldn’t believe it.”

In a private letter sent to Walz back in 2016, Behrends implored Walz to stop claiming to be a retired Command Sergeant Major.

“It saddens me that after your long career in the National Guard, that you did not fulfill the conditions of your promotion to Command Sergeant Major,” wrote Behrends. “It’s quite a title to have, when it has been earned. I would hope that you haven’t been using the rank for political gain, but that is how it appears.”

Walz has defended himself by insisting that he’s “damn proud” of his service.

A Harris-Walz campaign spokesman addressed the report by telling ABC that “After 24 years of military service, Governor Walz retired in 2005 and ran for Congress, where he was a tireless advocate for our men and women in uniform — and as Vice President of the United States he will continue to be a relentless champion for our veterans and military families.”