In 1981, Tim Walz and his father traveled to the nearest Army National Guard recruiting officer in his hometown in Nebraska.

“We met a lieutenant who had to get off his tractor in the spring after plowing,” Walz said in a 2018 interview with MPR News. “And we took the oath of office there on the edge of a field with the recruiter. And that started me on a 24-year journey.”

The Minnesota governor and current running mate of Vice President Kamala Harris has often spoken about his service in the National Guard. Now others are speaking out, too, and not always in glowing terms, especially when it comes to Walz’s retirement from the National Guard.

Harris called him a “patriot” in Philadelphia on Tuesday at the first rally the two held together.

“For his fellow veterans. He is Sergeant Major Walz,” Harris said to cheers from the crowd.

Republican vice presidential candidate Senator JD Vance criticized the governor’s descriptions of his service during the campaign and called Walz’s decision to leave the National Guard at this time “shameful.”

National Guard members are trained to fight wars and respond to threats to national security, and are also called upon to respond to emergencies.

Walz served in Nebraska, Texas and Arkansas before moving to Minnesota in 1996. He was in the 1st Battalion, 125th Field Artillery, based in New Ulm.

He specialized in heavy artillery and had awards for his skills in sharpshooting and hand grenade handling, according to military records obtained by MPR News through a public records request.

During his service, he suffered hearing damage from heavy artillery fire and later had to undergo surgery to correct the problem.

His training missions included one near the Arctic Circle in northern Norway.

In 2003, he was deployed to Italy for nine months to support the war in Afghanistan.

“Our job was to provide support at these bases in the early stages of the war in 2003, when the active troops were moving into the war zone,” Walz said. “And we went in and provided security at the bases and conducted training there because the regular troops were deployed.”

On May 15, 2005, Walz resigned from the Guard. His discharge file states that he did so honorably.

Later that year, his battalion was deployed to the Iraq War.

The 1-125th Field Artillery Regiment “received an alert order to mobilize to Iraq on July 14, 2005. The official mobilization order from the Department of the Army was received on August 14, 2005, and the unit was mobilized on October 12, 2005,” said Lt. Col. Ryan Rossman, Minnesota National Guard director of operations.

When he retired, Walz was 41 years old and wanted to run for Congress. The following year, he was elected to Congress from the First District.

In the 2022 race for governor, Republican candidate Scott Jensen – flanked by veterans – strongly questioned Walz’s decision to leave the National Guard before the battalion’s deployment to Iraq.

“In my opinion, today is the day that Tim Walz is indicted for lack of leadership and lack of performance of duty, and Minnesota needs to hear about it,” Jensen said.

Walz said in 2018 that he believed he could make a difference as a voice for soldiers in Congress.

“I wouldn’t call myself a hero, but 24 years of service, decorations and promotion to a rank that your listeners in the military know is not something you get by stealth, it’s something you earn, and I’m certainly proud of that,” he said.

Allan Bonnifield served with Walz, whom he met in 1999. In a 2018 interview with MPR News, Bonnifield said Walz was considering whether to focus on running for Congress or stay in the National Guard.

“He weighed the decision to run for Congress very, very carefully,” Bonnifield said. “He loved the military, he loved the National Guard, he loved the soldiers he worked with, and it was a very difficult decision for him. Especially knowing that we were going to be sent back to Iraq. He did not make this decision lightly.”

Vance, who has been critical of Walz’s record, served in the Marines for four years. In 2005, he was deployed to Iraq for six months as a combat correspondent, or military journalist, according to Task and Purpose, a military reporting magazine.

Bonnifield said Walz focused on veterans in Congress. Of the 85 bills Walz introduced during his six terms, nearly half were about veterans issues.

“He worked to make it easier for desperate National Guard members to get help and to contact the right people to get help for post-traumatic stress disorder or suicidal thoughts. He worked to just make things move faster and make people understand that this is a real problem and not something that’s just going to go away,” Bonnifield said.

Critics have also questioned two aspects of Walz’s retirement documents. First, his title at retirement and second, the lack of a signature on his discharge papers.

Walz left the military with the rank of Command Sergeant Major, one of the highest salaries for an enlisted soldier.

Personnel files show that he was demoted a few months after his retirement and continued to hold the rank of Master Sergeant for salary reasons.

“(Walz) held several positions in the field artillery including fire battery chief, operations sergeant, first sergeant and capped his career as command sergeant major for the battalion,” said Lt. Col. Kristen Augé, a Minnesota National Guard press secretary. “He retired as a master sergeant in 2005 for retirement reasons, having not completed additional courses at the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy.”

In Walz’s discharge report, a signature field reads “Soldier not available for signature.” The guard said that was fairly common for such documents.

“For members of reserve units who are not available to sign, the use of the administrative statement ‘not available to sign’ is standard practice,” said Army Col. Ryan Cochran, director of personnel and staff for the Minnesota National Guard. “This statement is authorized and mandated by both Army Regulations and National Guard Regulations to ensure the timely processing of administrative actions.”

Brian Bakst, political editor for MPR News, and Chris Haxel, former correspondent for APM Reports, contributed to this article.