Timeline of Walz’s National Guard retirement revealed

ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - Republicans are sharpening their knives to take stabs at Gov. Tim Walz now that he’s the official Democratic vice presidential nominee.

Minnesotans have heard most of these attacks before, including one related to the timing of his retirement from the National Guard.

JD Vance used it as he launched a new line of attack this week in his political war on Walz.

"You know what really bothers me about Tim Walz, as a Marine who has served his country in uniform?" he told a crowd in Michigan on Wednesday. "When the U.S. Marine Corps, when the United States of America asked me to serve my country, I did it. I did it honorably and I’m very proud of it. When Tim Walz was asked by his country to go to Iraq, you know what he did? He dropped out of the Army and allowed his unit to go without him, a fact that he’s been criticized for aggressively by a lot of the people he served with."

The accusations stem from a Facebook post by a pair of soldiers back in 2018 when Walz first ran for governor.

"They make it sound like it was, it was a surprise," said Master Sgt. Thomas Eustice. "It was not. He had talked about it for a very long time, not only with the higher ups, but with his soldiers."

The true timeline of Walz’s National Guard departure after 24 years of service looks like this:

• He filed to run for Congress in February 2005.
• In March, the military raised the possibility of his unit being deployed to Iraq.
• Two months later, Walz officially retired.
• Two months after that, his old unit was notified of its mobilization.

Master Sgt. Eustice served with and under Walz for many years in the Guard.

He says the governor was a good leader and a good soldier.

He feels like the attacks on Walz’s service are out of bounds and coming from people still bitter about losing promotions to the future VP candidate.

"I don't agree with a lot of his politics, but Tim Walz is a good man, and he was a good soldier," Eustice said. "And for people to vilify him, it's just not right."

We heard from three other members of the unit as well.

They all have issues with his politics, but said his service was honorable or better.