Retired Army Command Sergeant Major Doug Julin confirmed that Minnesota Governor and Democrat Vice Presidential candidate Tim Walz knew months in advance of his deployment to Iraq prior to deciding to retire and miss the deployment. In addition, Julin revealed that Walz assured him he would lead his battalion into Iraq but later went around him to get his retirement approved before deploying.
In an interview with CNN, Julin recounted being informed in the fall of 2004 about an upcoming deployment to Iraq for the 1st Brigade, 34th Infantry Division Brigade Combat Team. After that, he met with Walz’s battalion, but the exact date was not specified. At the time, Walz served as the senior enlisted leader of the battalion and was conditionally serving in the rank of command sergeant major.
Julin recalled a February 2005 meeting with Governor Tim Walz, who informed him he had put in a bid to run for Congress but had not yet been selected or nominated. In March or April of that year, another meeting took place at Camp Ripley, Minnesota, where Julin talked to Walz again, who assured him that he would lead his battalion into Iraq.
However, at the next meeting in June 2005, Julin discovered that Walz was not present and had been replaced by Command Sergeant Major Tom Behrends. He learned then that Walz “quit.” According to Julin, the individual who approved the retirement request should have informed him about the change and discussed why Walz was not going forward despite previously assuring him he would lead the battalion into Iraq.
Julin stated that if Walz had been a lower-ranking individual with limited knowledge of the process, his actions could be forgiven. However, as someone familiar with the procedures, Julin believed that Walz went around him to get his retirement approved without discussing it first.
Although official deployment orders did not arrive until later, Julin was clear that Walz knew he would deploy before deciding to retire from service. CNN reached out for comment from the Harris-Walz campaign but had not received a response at the time of this report.