FLASHBACK: Tim Walz claimed to be 'retired Command Sergeant Major'—he was reduced to Master Sergeant when he quit before deploying to Iraq

Tim Walz previously falsely claimed to be a retired "Command Sergeant Major" in an address to soldiers leaving on deployment. However, in reality, he retired at the lower rank of Master Sergeant and was reduced in his military rank as he had not completed the work necessary to retire as a Command Sergeant Major when he ran for Congress in 2005. 

In a 2009 address, Walz gave a farewell address to the 34th Red Bull Infantry Division that would be deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. He claimed that he was a "retired Command Sergeant Major" when he was actually reduced to Master Sergeant after he retired.  

Walz has made the claim in multiple instances after he retired from his service in the military. 

According to CBS News, Walz had gotten to the conditional rank of command sergeant major but was then reduced to master sergeant after he retired as he did not meet the conditions and coursework for the US Army Sergeants Major Academy.  

Some have accused Walz of violating the "Stolen Valor" act, a law that makes it a crime for someone to lie about the decorations they from the military in order to "obtain money, property, or other tangible benefit.”  

According to a summary of the law from Home of Heros, "A revised version of the statute, the Stolen Valor Act of 2013, specifically amends the federal criminal code to make it a crime for someone to claim they have served in the military, embellish their rank or fraudulently claim having received a valor award specific in the Act" in order to seek the aforementioned benefits.  

In 2005, Walz, shortly before his unit's deployment to Iraq, retired in order to run for Congress. In a letter written in part by the person who took over his position in charge of many troops, Thomas Behrends, "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."