The former battalion commander and direct supervisor of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz during his time in the military has released a scathing statement on Vice President Kamala Harris' newly selected running mate.
In the week since he was announced as Harris' running mate, Walz, a 24-year veteran, has faced an onslaught of criticism over the timing of his 2005 retirement from the military, which some have suggested was a calculated move to avoid his unit's impending deployment to Iraq. Walz has further been accused of stolen valor for framing himself as a combat veteran despite never seeing combat during his service.
Walz's former commander, Lieutenant Colonel John Kolb, commented on the Minnesota governor's military record in a scathing Facebook post over the weekend. "Feeling a need to say this: 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," Kolb wrote. "Unwittingly, he got out of the way for better leadership."
Colonel John Kolb — Tim Walz’s battalion commander and direct supervisor — TRASHES Walz’s stolen valor lies:
“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.” pic.twitter.com/FZqtZjvBt5
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) August 11, 2024
Kolb continued his post by praising Thomas Behrends, who served as Command Sergeant Major (CSM) after Walz's retirement: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. 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.
However, Kolb took issue with Walz's brief role as CSM prior to his 2005 retirement.
"I cannot say the same of his service sitting, frocked, in the CSM chair," Kolb wrote. "He did not earn the rank or successfully complete any assignment as an E9."
Kolb said it was 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," he continued. "Similarly, when the demands of service and leadership at the highest level got real, he chose another path."
Kolb concluded his post with the hashtag: "#NOTMYCSM."
Fellow veteran and former President Donald Trump's running mate Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, who served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 2003 to 2007, similarly called out Walz's record during a Sunday appearance on CNN.
“He knew he was going to Iraq. He decided to quit,” Vance told host Dana Bash. “He lied about that. He said that, when he decided to retire, he did not know that he was going to Iraq. That is another untruth, as even his senior military officer said."
"I’m not criticizing the service. I’m criticizing the dishonesty — dishonesty spoken in favor and for the purpose of political benefit," Vance asserted.
