BREAKING: Former battalion commander of National Guard unit Tim Walz served in speaks out, blasts Walz amid stolen valor controversy

Walz, who is the running mate of Democrat presidential nominee Kamala Harris, retired from service in 2005 just as his unit was about to deploy to Iraq. Walz retired from the National Guard to pursue a political career. While he could have run for Congress while he was deployed, active duty would have hindered his ability to campaign. Walz was elected to the US House and served until he ran for Minnesota governor and won in 2018.

"Unwittingly, he got out of the way for better leadership," Kolb said in the blistering Facebook post that was widely shared on social media. He praised the man who took Walz's place as Command Sergeant Major, saying "Thomas Behrends was the right leader at the right time. He sacrificed to answer the call, leaving his family, business and farming-partner brother to train, lead and care for soldiers. He earned the privilege of being called Command Sergeant Major. Like a great leader he ran toward and not away from the guns."

"I have no opinion of Mr. Walz's decision to leave service at the time he did." Kolb continued. "It was his right to retire early. I also have no criticism of his service as an E7 and E8 in the MNARNG. By all accounts and on the record, he was a competent Chief of Firing Battery/Gunnery Sergeant and First Sergeant. I cannot say the same of his service sitting, frocked, in the CSM chair. He did not earn the rank or successfully complete any assignment as an E9. It is an affront to the Noncommissioned Officer Corps that he continues to glom onto the title. I can sit in the cockpit of an airplane, it does not make me a pilot. Similarly, when the demands of service and leadership at the highest level got real, he chose another path. #notmyCSM"

Kolb became LTC of the battalion in August of 2005, a few months after Walz's retirement in May.

Behrends also posted about Walz on Facebook, saying "Traitor, Deserter, Military Imposter, Kamelaeon Party Leader Tim Walz has been drug out of his outhouse and into the light, so we the American people can conduct an archeological dig of what lies below. As we descend into the depths of lies and deceit, who knows how deep the disgusting and despicable pit goes? I'm guessing that we will be digging for many moons, and when we think we have hit bottom, we will pop out in China. A picture of who he thinks he is, and another of who he really is."

Walz's service has been one of his selling points as the Kamala campaign refers to him as America's dad and her as America's auntie. After he was announced as the vice presidential running mate, however, reports about his National Guard career have emerged that indicate that he left his unit when service no longer suited his political goals and that he'd made false claims about his service.

"The public needs to know how pathetic his leadership was as a National Guardsman," Behrends said about Walz to Alpha News in September 2022. "He abandoned us. What the hell kind of leader does that? As soon as the shots were fired in Iraq, he turned and ran the other way and hung his hat up and quit."

"Back in early 2005," Alpha News reported, "a warning order went out to southern Minnesota’s First Battalion-125th Field Artillery to mobilize for a mission to Iraq, Behrends said. Walz served as the unit’s highest non-commissioned officer after he was conditionally promoted to command sergeant major on April 1, 2005, records show. On May 16, Walz retired from the guard, avoided the deployment, and ran for Congress. Walz has implied in previous statements that he didn’t retire because of the deployment, but National Guard records show his service obligation wasn’t complete until September 2007. Behrends was next in line for the position and was asked to take his place."

Behrends also spoke out since Walz was annouced as the VP pick by the Harris campaign, saying "I needed to hit the ground running and take care of the troops — and tell them we were going to war. For a guy in that position, to quit is cowardice."

“When your country calls, you are supposed to run into battle — not the other way,” Behrends told The New York Post. "He ran away. It’s sad. He had the opportunity to serve his country, and said ‘Screw you’ to the United States. That’s not who I would pick to run for vice president."

JD Vance, running mate of Donald Trump, served in the Marines and deployed to Iraq, though he did not see combat. Vance recently blasted Walz for stolen valor, saying at a recent campaign stop, "I wonder Tim Walz, when were you ever in war? What was this weapon you carried into war? What bothers me about Tim Walz is this stolen valor garbage. Do not pretend to be something that you’re not. I’d be ashamed if I was him and I lied about my military service like he did."

John Kolb and Thomas Behrends were reached for comment.