Tim Walz has been criticized for falsely claiming to be a retired “Command Sergeant Major” in an address to soldiers deploying for Operation Iraqi Freedom. In reality, Walz retired at the lower rank of Master Sergeant and was reduced in rank because he did not complete the necessary requirements to retire as a Command Sergeant Major when he left the military to run for Congress in 2005.
In a 2009 farewell address to the 34th Red Bull Infantry Division, Walz inaccurately referred to himself as a “retired Command Sergeant Major.”
However, according to military records and CBS News, Walz had reached the conditional rank of Command Sergeant Major but was later reduced to Master Sergeant upon retirement because he did not meet the conditions and coursework required by the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy.
Walz has made this false claim on multiple occasions since retiring from military service, leading some to accuse him of violating the “Stolen Valor” Act.
This federal law makes it a crime to lie about military service, rank, or decorations to “obtain money, property, or other tangible benefits.” The revised version of the law, the Stolen Valor Act of 2013, specifically criminalizes fraudulent claims about military service and rank when done to seek such benefits.
Walz’s retirement came just before his unit’s deployment to Iraq in 2005. Thomas Behrends, who took over Walz’s position, wrote in a letter, “In early 2005, a warning order was issued to the 1-125th Field Artillery Battalion, which included the position [Walz] was serving in, to prepare to be mobilized for active duty for a deployment to Iraq.
On May 16th, 2005, he quit, leaving the 1-125th Field Artillery Battalion and its Soldiers hanging; without its senior Non-Commissioned Officer, as the battalion prepared for war.”