‘Did NOT Earn the Rank!’: Battalion Commander Who Replaced Tim Walz Obliterates Kamala’s VP Pick Over ‘Stolen Valor’ Scandal
Tim Walz’s former battalion commander is the latest to accuse the Kamala Harris’ running mate of “stolen valor”.
Aug. 12 2024, Published 9:00 a.m. ET
The former battalion commander of Tim Walz’s National Guard unit is the latest to attack the vice-presidential nominee for “stolen valor” – claiming it’s an “affront” for him to claim a title he didn’t earn.
RadarOnline.com can reveal John Kolb – who became Lieutenant Colonel of Walz’s National Guard unit a few months after Walz, 60, retired in May 2005 – joined the attacks after the Minnesota governor was accused of embellishing his military record for political gain.
Lieutenant Colonel John Kolb claims Walz never officially gained the rank of sergeant major before retiring in May 2005.
In a new Facebook post, Kolb said Walz not only “retired early” and “broke his enlistment contract”, but Walz also failed to “complete the Sergeants Major Academy” and “did not successfully complete any assignment as a Sergeant Major”.
Kolb wrote: “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.
“Unwittingly, he got out of the way for better leadership. 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.”
Lieutenant Colonel Kolb also accused Governor Walz of “retiring early” and “breaking his enlistment contract”.
Lieutenant Colonel Kolb added: “By all accounts and on the record, [Walz] was a competent Chief of Firing Battery/Gunnery Sergeant and First Sergeant. 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.”
As RadarOnline.com reported, Walz served in the National Guard for 24 years before retiring in May 2005 to pursue a political career.
He spent 12 years as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives before becoming Minnesota’s governor in 2018. On August 6, Kamala Harris, 59, named Walz as her vice president running mate pick.
Kamala Harris, 59, named Walz as her vice president running mate earlier this month.
But Walz came under fire after it was revealed he retired from the National Guard two months before his battalion was deployed to Iraq in July 2005.
The Minnesota National Guard later confirmed Walz filed his retirement papers at least five months before his unit was notified of their deployment.
Thomas Behrends, who served in the same battalion as Walz and who was referenced in Lieutenant Colonel Kolb’s recent Facebook post, was one of the first to accuse Harris’ running mate of “stolen valor”.
Behrends told Fox News last week: “He’s used the rank that he never achieved in order to advance his political career.
“I mean, he still says he’s a retired command sergeant major to this day, and he’s not. He uses the rank of others to make it look like he's a better person than he is.”
Lieutenant Colonel Kolb’s Facebook post has since gone viral, and several Republican critics – including Donald Trump Jr. – have used it to attack Walz further.
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Don Jr., 46, wrote on X: “Holy s---, Tim Walz’s Battalion Commander absolutely destroys him over his Stolen Valor. How long is the leftwing media going to keep ignoring all of this?”
J.D. Vance, whom Donald Trump, 78, picked as his vice president running mate last month, has also attacked Walz over the “stolen valor” allegations.
Vance, 40, said during a recent campaign event in Michigan: “What bothers me about Tim Walz is this stolen valor garbage. Do not pretend to be something that you’re not.
“I’d be ashamed if I was him and I lied about my military service like he did.”
RadarOnline.com has reached out to Governor Walz’s office for comment.
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