Tim Walz and JD Vance military records compared (2024)

Questions surrounding Democratic vice presidential candidate and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz's military biography have sparked an online debate about whether or not the circ*mstances of his departure from the National Guard equate to the accusations that Republicans have lobbied against him.

Walz has been swarmed with criticisms over the details of his resignation from the Minnesota National Guard in the 48 hours since Vice President Kamala Harris selected him as her running mate Tuesday.

Republicans have accused Walz of embellishing his military rank and abandoning his unit shortly before they were set for deployment in Iraq. Walz's Republican opponent, Senator JD Vance, who served in Iraq when he was in the Marine Corps, has even used the words "stole valor" against Walz. Democrats have defended Walz, but even those remarks have resulted in pushback.

Responding to an X post from Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg that said, "Walz served honorably and well" and accused the GOP ticket of attacking Walz to avoid discussing policy issues, Meghan McCain said Thursday, "Respectfully, there are a lot of veterans and active military people in my life who are far from Trump supporters who are very upset about what Walz has misrepresented.

"This isn't strategic, it's at best confusing and at worst stolen valor," she wrote.

Some veterans, however, have sided with Walz, slamming Vance for trying to discredit Walz's service by questioning his resume and suggesting that he intentionally left before his unit's Iraq deployment.

"It's unbecoming and unprofessional for anyone—especially veterans—to openly disparage anyone who has served in uniform," Retired Lieutenant General Mark Hertling, a former commander of American ground forces in Europe, tweeted. "I'm personally very thankful for all who have worn the cloth of our country—for any amount of time—and who have served in our professional force."

"Let's be clear, you served honorably, including 6 months in combat in a public affairs unit. Walz retired after 24 years and achieved the rank of command Sergeant Major. I do not think you want to compare service records," Alexander Vindman, a retired Army lieutenant colonel, added.

Both Walz and Vance are veterans, although neither served in combat. Here's how their records stack up against one another:

Tim Walz military record

Walz served 24 years with the Minnesota National Guard between 1981 and 2005, transferring from the Nebraska National Guard. He reached the rank of command sergeant major, a leadership position within his battalion.

He was also deployed to the Arctic Circle and Italy throughout his time with the National Guard. The deployment to Europe was to support Operation Enduring Freedom, which was centered in Afghanistan as part of the War on Terror. Walz himself was never deployed to Afghanistan.

His battalion would later be deployed to Iraq, but he retired two months before the directive was issued. He filed his paperwork to run for office in February 2005, the order would come to his unit in August and they would be mobilized in October.

Some have questioned the timing of his departure, but some of those who served with him, like Retired Command Sergeant Major Joseph Eustice, who told ABC News that he left to run for Congress months before reports emerged about a possible deployment. Al Bonnifield, who also served with Walz, also said his colleague weighed the decision "for a long time."

"He was trying to decide where he could do better for soldiers, for veterans, for the country," Bonnifield said.

Walz has acknowledged that he's never served in active combat, but a video clip tweeted by the Harris campaign also shows the governor telling an audience that he carried guns "in war" while advocating for gun reform.

"We can research the impacts of gun violence. We can make sure those weapons of war, that I carried in war, are only carried in war," he said.

Those comments have come under scrutiny from Vance, who has accused Walz of "pretend[ing[ to be something that [he's] not."

There have also been speculations about the rank at which Walz retired and whether they align with his official biography.

The Minnesota National Guard said Wednesday that Walz did not retire as a command sergeant major "because he did not complete additional coursework at the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy." Walz would have had to serve that particular role for three years to retire under that rank officially, but he did not achieve that rank until September 2004, five months before his retirement.

JD Vance

Vance enlisted in the Marine Corps after graduating from high school in 2003 and would go on to serve for a total of four years. In 2005, he spent six months in Iraq as a military journalist.

He wrote in his memoir that he was "lucky to escape any real fighting," but on Wednesday, he stressed that he still "served in a combat zone."

"I never said that I saw a firefight myself, but I've always told the truth about my Marine Corps service. That's the difference," Vance said.

He left the Marine Corps in 2007 as a corporal to attend Ohio State University.