Tim Walz knew his battalion was looking for Iraq when he retired from the National Guard

Walz said he had a “responsibility” to “serve if called upon,” but quickly left the force when deployment to Iraq came up.

Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz knew his National Guard battalion was facing a possible deployment to Iraq when he decided to withdraw, the Washington Free Beacon has learned

Walz said he had a “responsibility” to “serve if called upon” shortly before leaving the Guard, a campaign statement filed. shows. That statement removes any doubt as to whether Walz knew there was a deployment to Iraq when he decided to leave the service. A source who served in the Minnesota National Guard at the time previously said free lighthouse that the timing of Walz's retirement “left a bad taste in a lot of people's mouths.”

“As the command sergeant major, I have a responsibility not only to prepare my battalion for Iraq, but to serve if called upon,” Walz said in a campaign statement on March 20, 2005. Only three days before, the National Guard Office of Public Affairs announced that at least part of its battalion could be sent overseas to the Middle East in the next two years.

Walz left the National Guard that May. Two months later, his battalion was notified that they would be deployed to Iraq.

CNN informed On Wednesday, Walz's National Guard unit only received the deployment notice in July, two months after his retirement. But the campaign statement shows that Walz knew there was at least one deployment to Iraq. The two reporters who wrote this piece, Haley Britzky and Jeremy Herb, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The revelation that Walz knew about his potential deployment when he decided to retire is just the latest controversy surrounding his portrayal of his military career. Walz has previously faced accusations of “stolen value” from combat veterans for how he described his time in the National Guard.

Walz introduced himself as a veteran of Operation Enduring Freedom both at a 2004 rally and during his 2006 congressional launch, in free lighthouse informed Wednesday Those misrepresentations spurred a local Iraq War veteran to confront Walz's staff about Walz's claims, a resurfaced video from 2009 shows. Walz's team then said it would follow up with the veteran . A subsequent meeting never took place, a source familiar with the situation said free lighthouse.

Harris' presidential campaign released a video Tuesday of Walz calling for gun control. In this video, Walz says, “We can make sure that the weapons of war that I took to war are [sic] the only place where these weapons are found.”

The Harris-Walz campaign did not return a request for comment.

Walz served in the Nebraska National Guard from 1981 to 1996 and the Minnesota National Guard from 1996 to 2005. His deployments only took him to military bases in Europe and he never saw combat.

Sen. JD Vance (R., Ohio), the Republican vice presidential nominee, attacked Walz on Thursday over his military record. At a news conference, Vance, a Marine who served in Iraq, said, “I did what I was asked to do, and I did it honorably, and I'm very proud of that service.”

“When Tim Walz was asked by his country to go to Iraq, you know what he did? He left the military and allowed his unit to go without him,” he said.