Tim Walz touts his own military service during DNC speech despite ‘stolen valor’ controversy

Walz said during his address, "Everybody belongs and everybody has a responsibility to contribute. For me, it was serving in the Army National Guard. I joined up two days after my 17th birthday, and I proudly wore our nation's uniform for 24 years."

Walz served in the Minnesota National Guard’s 1st Battalion, 125th Field Artillery, and retired as a master sergeant in 2005. He previously served in the Nebraska National Guard.

However, critics, including veterans who served with Walz, have accused him of retiring when he discovered that his battalion would be deployed to Iraq following the 9/11 attacks. According to the Minnesota National Guard, Walz put in his papers for retirement at least five months before his battalion received deployment orders.

Walz has also been accused of “stolen valor” for claiming he retired as a "Command Sergeant Major" despite not retiring with the title from the military. He was introduced with the title at a meeting for the DNC on Monday. Because Walz retired in 2005 without fulfilling the obligations of the rank, his title was reduced to Master Sergeant.

The former battalion commander for the National Guard unit in which Tim Walz served, John Kolb, previously spoke out about Walz "glomming on" to the Command Sergeant Major title and for leaving the military as his men were preparing for a deployment to Iraq.

Kolb wrote in a Facebook post, "I do not regret that Tim Walz retired early from the Minnesota Army National Guard, did not complete the Sergeants Major Academy, broke his enlistment contract or did not successfully complete any assignment as a Sergeant Major."