Former military superior claims Walz knew of imminent deployment ahead of retirement decision

While Kamala Harris' so-called “honeymoon period” following her effective coronation as her party's presidential nominee has lasted longer than some might have expected, her newly minted running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, is having a rather more difficult time.

Walz is struggling to counter claims of stolen valor related to his military service and allegations that he retired early in order to avoid deployment to Iraq, something a former Army colleague has now stepped forward to confirm, as Breitbart reports.

Damning claims emerge

At issue are comments made by former Minnesota National Guard Command Sgt. Maj. Doug Julin during a CNN interview in which he discussed Walz's time with the National Guard.

Walz's superior at the time in question, Julin appeared to lend credence to the notion that the current vice-presidential nominee left the unit he was supposed to lead into deployment, making an end run around the typical chain of command in order to secure his retirement ahead of their departure.

Julin affirmed that Walz took part in meetings that included a range of personnel within the unit regarding the impending deployment, discussions that occurred months in advance of the mission and well before the VP hopeful initiated the retirement process.

Further, Julin claims that not only did Walz participate in the meetings, he gave assurances that he had every intention of fulfilling his duty during the deployment, something that ultimately proved false when he learned that Walz had already gone over his head and secured permission to retire from a higher-ranking officer than himself.

“Tim Walz knew the process and procedures, he went around me and above and beyond me...basically went in there to get somebody to back him...it was just a backdoor process,” lamented Julin.

Corroboration continues

Julin is not the only former military colleague of Walz's who is telling a similar story, with Command Sgt. Maj. Paul Herr (Ret.) declaring, according to Fox News, “He subverted the chain of command, and he went around the chain of command. The brigade [sergeant] major had no clue. These are all important facts, and he did it to continually feather his own bed.... That was the shameful part of it.”

As the Daily Mail reports, Lieutenant Colonel John Kolb, who assumed leadership of Walz's unit after his departure from the service has also come forth to critique the VP candidate's history of claiming the rank of Command Sergeant Major, despite not retiring with that title due to a failure to fulfill all requirements for its attainment.

In a Facebook post addressing the controversy, Kolb held little back in his harsh assessment of Walz's service, saying, “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.”

Though he noted that “by all accounts, and on the record, he was a competent Chief of Firing Battery/Gunnery Sergeant and First Sergeant,” Kolb added, “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,” Kolb concluded.

Evasion continues -- for now

Though the Harris campaign has done its best to avoid answering questions about the controversy by merely making some tweaks to Walz's campaign biography to reflect his true rank at the time of his military retirement, the Republican side of the presidential contest is wasting no time in reminding Americans just how serious the allegations against the Democratic VP contender really are and that they deserve answers from the man himself.

GOP vice-presidential hopeful JD Vance went on the offensive this weekend, pointedly suggesting that his opponent can run, be he cannot hide from this controversy, adroitly quipping, “Walz will be ordered to do battle with the media, but will cancel the interview the day before and then tell everyone he did it anyways.”