Do we really want another liar in the WH?
Tim Walz Lied About Being Eligible to Retire the Same Week as 9/11 Yet Choosing to Re-EnlistKristina Wong 22 Aug 2024
Democrat vice presidential candidate Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) has claimed he was eligible to retire from the military the same week as the 9/11 terrorist attacks and implied he chose to re-enlist out of a sense of patriotic duty. However, according to the Minnesota National Guard, he was not eligible to retire and receive retirement benefits until 2002.
In a 2009 interview for the Library of Congress’s Veteran History Project Collection, Walz claimed he reached 20 years in the National Guard — the benchmark for retirement from the military — the same week as the terrorist attacks, but that he chose to re-enlist.
Walz said:
It was — the notice as I said came in early 2003, I think many of us after September 11 — my 20 years was actually, ironically enough, up that week of September 11, 2001, of the time that I had off and made up, so I re-enlisted, like I think the vast majority of people did. A real sense of uncertainty of what was going to — but a real sense of wanting to do something. I think many of us in those early days — that sense of Afghanistan and the Taliban and where that, you know, that attack came from. .
Walz also wrote in a November 3, 2006, op-ed as a U.S. congressional candidate:
After completing 20 years of service in 2001, I re-enlisted to serve our country for another four years following Sept. 11…
However, Minnesota National Guard’s Director of Manpower & Personnel Army Col. Ryan Cochran recent confirmed in a statement sent to reporters on August 13, 2024, that Walz was not eligible to retire until August 2002. He said in the statement, sent to Breitbart News and other outlets:
Governor Tim Walz received his notification of eligibility for retirement on August 3, 2002. He was promoted to sergeant major (E-9) on September 17, 2004, and immediately began serving as the command sergeant major for the 1st Battalion, 125th Field Artillery while his packet was submitted to the National Guard Bureau to appoint him to command sergeant major (E-9). Once approved by NGB, he was laterally appointed to command sergeant major (E-9) on April 1, 2005. He retired from the Minnesota National Guard on May 16, 2005. Our records do not indicate when he made his request to retire. Leadership reviews and approves all requests to retire. He was administratively reduced to master sergeant (E-8) on May 15, 2005, because he did not complete all required U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy coursework. [Emphasis added].
Asked for further clarification on Thursday, the Minnesota National Guard told Breitbart News that August 3, 2002, was the exact date he was eligible for retirement — not before then.
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https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2024/08/22/tim-walz-lied-about-being-eligible-to-retire-the-same-week-as-9-11-yet-choosing-to-re-enlist/
