After waiting more than seven months, Alpha News is finally getting a closer look at the time Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz spent in the military. As part of a records request, Alpha News received 125 pages from the United States Army.
Still, many questions remain unanswered, including why Walz was allowed to visit China so often as a member of the National Guard and if records ever went missing from his unit on his watch.
Walz faced controversy on the campaign trail when falsehoods about his service resurfaced. Alpha News first exposed in 2022 how he repeatedly made misleading statements about the rank he attained. For decades, he described himself as a retired command sergeant major, a rank he received a conditional promotion to but never retained—a detail that was eventually removed from Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign website while Walz was her running mate last year.
The documents clearly spell out how Walz signed up for a three-year extension of enlistment as a member of southern Minnesota’s First Battalion-125th Field Artillery in September 2004 just before being promoted to sergeant major. However, instead of serving those three years, Walz retired from the military eight months later in May 2005, two years and four months before finishing the extension he signed up for and just before his unit was to be deployed to Iraq.
The oath of extension states: “I agree to remain a member of the (Army National Guard of Minnesota and as a Reserve of the Army) (United States Army Reserve) during the entire period of this extension.”
Alpha News asked retired Command Sergeant Major (CSM) Tom Behrends to review the records, which provide further confirmation of the fact that Walz did not retire at the CSM rank. Behrends took the place of Walz when he failed to deploy with his unit.
After his careful review, Behrends said it’s “sickening thinking what could have been going through his head back then, to extend his enlistment, accept the promotions, tell everyone how important it is to answer the call, then bail out.”
“It wasn’t until 4/1/05, April Fool’s Day, that he was laterally promoted to CSM. Once he had that feather in his hat, he pulled the plug on May 19, 2005. So he conditionally wore the CSM rank for 6 weeks. Just reinforces his corrupt use of the National Guard,” he said.
“He has been nothing but a babbling failure during his whole political career. If the truth would have gotten out during his first run for office, his campaign would have fizzled like a wet bottle rocket, but thank God the nation saw through his smoke and mirrors,” Behrends added.
Alpha News has made multiple interview requests to ask Gov. Walz about his military service and ties to China. Our requests have been ignored or denied. His office did not respond to questions for this story.
The records do little to address lingering questions about Walz’s connections to China.
Earlier this month, a conservative watchdog group filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for records relating to Walz’s “connections to the Chinese Communist Party.”
As for Behrends, he recently removed a tattered “Walz is a Traitor” sign from his farm near Brewster, Minn., that he once again hoisted around his grain bin last election season.
“I have attached the photo of the banner after the shredding it endured Tuesday night. I imagine Gov. Walz’s mind felt about the same that evening watching this great nation’s President’s address to the nation. Ironically, the banner got caught on our side draw on the bin, which has the appearance of an elephant’s trunk. I wish I would have taken a picture. Maybe it is a sign of things to come, he’s going to get the trunk of the elephant in the next election. I wanted to give it to the historical society to display in the exhibit for his failed vice presidential bid,” Behrends said.
“That sums up Walz’s military career pretty well, a whole lot of nothing. I sent him the Retired Master Sergeant hat I bought back in 2022, with a letter stating: ‘On behalf of this great nation, please accept this hat, as a symbol of appreciation, for your 24 years of mediocre military service. Thank you for all you’ve done for the Republican Party.’ I’m still waiting for a thank you,” Behrends joked.
Liz Collin
Liz Collin has been a truth-teller for 20 years as a multi-Emmy-Award-winning reporter and anchor. Liz is a Worthington, Minnesota native who lives in the suburbs with her husband, son and loyal lab.
