Tim Walz didn't carry weapons in combat despite 2018 statement

Republicans have been attacking Democratic vice presidential candidate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s military service, something that traditionally registers as a strength for politicians.

After Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign shared a 2018 video clip of Walz discussing gun control, Republicans pounced on the governor’s statement about weapons that he said he carried in war.

In the clip, Walz said, "We can make sure that those weapons of war that I carried in war is the only place where those weapons are at."

Former President Donald Trump’s running mate, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, who, like Walz, is a military veteran, took the governor to task for his comment at an Aug. 7 campaign stop in Shelby Township, Michigan.

"He said, and he was making a point about gun control, that ‘we shouldn’t allow weapons that I used in war to be on America’s streets.’ Well, I wonder, Tim Walz, when were you ever in war?" Vance said. "What was this weapon that you carried into war given that you abandoned your unit right before they went to Iraq and he has not spent a day in a combat zone." 

We rated Vance’s comment about Walz abandoning his unit Mostly False. 

The Iraq War was a protracted conflict that spanned 2003 to 2011. During the early years of the war, Walz, who served 24 years in the Army National Guard, eyed retirement and a political career. He submitted retirement paperwork five to seven months before retiring in May 2005 to run for Congress.  

As he awaited his retirement paperwork’s processing, Walz filed paperwork to run for Congress in February 2005, a month before his battalion received a March notification for a potential deployment to Iraq within two years. Walz’s battalion was officially ordered to deploy to Iraq in July 2005, two months after Walz retired.

But was what Vance said about Walz not carrying weapons in combat accurate?

Walz first enlisted in the Nebraska National Guard in 1981 days after he turned 17. He transferred to the Minnesota National Guard in 1996, where he served in the 1st Battalion, 125th Field Artillery until he retired in May 2005.

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The Associated Press reported that Walz was a field artillery cannoneer as a member of the Texas Army National Guard in 1985 when he attended the University of Houston, and that he also served as an instructor with the Arkansas Army National Guard.

Walz spent months on active duty deployed overseas, but didn’t serve in Iraq or Afghanistan. He and his battalion deployed to Italy in August 2003 to support U.S. operations in Afghanistan under Operation Enduring Freedom. He returned to Minnesota in April 2004, a Minnesota National Guard spokesperson told PolitiFact.

In an email, Lauren Hitt, a Harris-Walz campaign spokesperson, told PolitiFact that Walz thanked Vance for his service and "misspoke" in the 2018 video.

"In making the case for why weapons of war should never be on our streets or in our classrooms, the Governor misspoke," Hitt said. "He did handle weapons of war and believes strongly that only military members trained to carry those deadly weapons should have access to them, unlike Donald Trump and JD Vance who prioritize the gun lobby over our children."

Luke Schroeder, a Trump-Vance campaign spokesperson, said Walz "absolutely said this, that’s not in dispute," pointing to the video the Harris campaign shared on X. Schroeder also pointed to several news articles about Walz’s military service that showed he didn’t see combat duty.

Minnesota Public Radio reported in 2018 that in his military career, Walz responded to weather disasters such as floods and tornadoes, and spent months deployed overseas. He specialized in heavy artillery and won ribbons for his proficiency in sharpshooting and hand grenades, the outlet wrote, citing military records. 

He never saw combat, Minnesota Public Radio reported. "I know that there are certainly folks that did far more than I did. I know that," Walz told the news outlet. "I willingly say that I got far more out of the military than they got out of me, from the GI Bill to leadership opportunities to everything else."

Vance served as a combat correspondent, working in public affairs for the U.S. Marine Corps from 2003 to 2007 and deployed to Iraq for six months in 2005. He did not experience combat, meaning he did not carry weapons on a battlefield.

Vance said that Walz said he carried weapons in war, but "he has not spent a day in a combat zone." 

Although Walz used weapons and trained colleagues to use them during his long military career, his 2018 statement implied that he carried weapons on a battlefield, which he did not. Walz misspoke, his campaign said. 

We rate Vance’s statement True.

RELATED: J.D. Vance attacked Tim Walz on military record. His statement ignores the timeline