Thread by @jimsheater

Okay, let’s do this.

I happened to be in the National Guard in 2005 and in Iraq for the first few months of that year. 🧵

https://twitter.com/colin_dunlap/status/1820826885925818645

In 2004-2005 the NG had a policy such that if soldiers were eligible and selected for promotion, they were promoted conditionally, with the requirement that they complete their Non Commissioned Officer Education requirements within a certain period of time, IIR two years 2/

I do not recall if there were different stipulations for Command Sergeant Major positions as they are selected by a council and not a straight order of merit list. Currently someone selected for that position has to complete the 3/

United States Army Sergeants Major Academy. For NG soldiers this is a distance lending phase 1 (takes about a year) followed by a resident phase at Fort Bliss, TX. NG NCO’s in most states have a rough time getting seats to any school administered by big Army due to 4/

Funding and school seat allocations. I imagine in 2005 it was even harder as the NG was in the early stages of becoming a war- time component. If someone was promoted but didn’t complete their requirements in time they were ADMINISTRATIVELY demoted to their previous rank 5/

And while this is not necessarily *good* for their career it’s not a disciplinary reduction. A number of soldiers did not meet their requirements due to various circumstances and went on to be promoted again no harm no foul. I was in Iraq with some of them. 6/

So Tim Walz was selected for promotion to CSM but did not completely USASMA so upon retirement was administratively reduced to Master Sergeant, the last rank he was fully qualified to hold. There is also a requirement to hold a rank for a certain period of time (usually 3 years)7

To claim to have retired at that rank. But Tim Walz WAS promoted to CSM and held that rank and position before he retired. So it is 100% truthful to say he served as a CSM but still retired as a MSG. Retired pay is based on an average dollar amount not specific rank 8/

As for the timing of his retirement… you don’t just show up on your last day and say I’m done. A NG retirement packet must be submitted a minimum of 180 days prior to the intended retirement date. You are eligible to retire after 20 years of creditable service, Walz had 24. 9/

Once you go past 20 years you are not bound to complete the terms of your current enlistment contract except in certain cases of bonuses or other incentives, and even then you can still retire by waiving those incentives. Sometimes you owe money 10/

Tim Walz officially retired from military service on May 16th, 2005. I was home from Iraq for about 2 months at that point which means I had a fat beard and was probably drunk that day. He had to have submitted his retirement no later than 17 November 2004 to have it 11/

Approved and processed. And keep in mind, he was still a teacher and not elected to office at this time so it’s unlikely he had major political clout to move the process along. Now on to the deployment 12/

All accounts seem to say that the 1/25 Field Artillery Battalion was given its warning order to Iraq in early 2005. The bigger Army did not yet really know how to deploy the NG at this stage in the way. My time from notification to boots on ground Iraq was less than 7 months 13/

If it is accurate that the battalion was notified in early 2005, Walz already had his retirement packet in and approved. Also of note he re-enlisted for 4 years in 2001 so his contract was likely up at that point anyway, even though it doesn’t matter for retirement 14/

So he put in for retirement before notification and the retirement was effective before an official order was likely published. I can’t seem to find exactly when 1/25 got to Iraq but I’d guess it was no earlier than July 2005 and likely later 15/

Could he have pulled his retirement packet and still gone? Yes, probably. But he was 41 years old, had a young daughter and most importantly already did 24 years and was considering a run for Congress. While the law doesn’t require it, I personally consider retirement from 16/

The military before running for office to be the honorable thing to do so as to eliminate potential conflicts of interest. He has never claimed to be a combat veteran and military verbiage is very specific. I’ve not seen him claim to be a retired CSM, only to have served 17/

As such. Which is accurate. Just as it’s accurate to say he did his time, and as all who reach 20 years are entitled to do, chose when to end his time. I’ve seen war. That particular war, and some of the worst of it in my time there. I don’t begrudge a man for not having 18/

To go through what I went through, and having the memories I still live with today, after 20+ years of good and faithful service. He enlisted and re- enlisted multiple times, including once post-9/11, and achieved the pinnacle of enlisted ranks

Additional update: it looks like the unit didn’t go to Iraq until *2007* so he would have had to pull his retirement packet (which requires approval) and then commit to another 3+ years while potentially being a serving member of Congress. This is laughable

I would really appreciate if everyone who likes or rt’s this tags @colin_dunlap to force him to read it

@colin_dunlap Also @Tim_Walz I got your back

Please see the retweet of this one for correction on the date of deployment, still doesn’t really affect the timeline I laid out

@colin_dunlap @Tim_Walz If you’re reading this, also read this:

https://twitter.com/jimsheater/status/1821658199394808129