JD Vance, vice presidential candidate, has strongly criticized Gov. Tim Walz (D) over his military service record following Walz’s nomination as Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate. Vance, a former Marine who served in Iraq, accused Walz of abandoning his National Guard battalion before their deployment to Iraq.

In an interview with the Daily Mail, Vance said, “Your job as a senior enlisted guy in a unit is to keep your people safe. That’s not a job you can switch out of on a moment’s notice. If he abandoned his troops before they went to Iraq or wherever, it’s absolutely shameful.”

Walz retired from the Army National Guard in 2005, four years into a six-year reenlistment, as his battalion was preparing for deployment. This decision has come under scrutiny, especially after a campaign video surfaced in which Walz claimed he carried guns “in war.”

“There was a clip the Kamala campaign posted about him where he’s making a gun control argument. He said, ‘Look, you should not be able to carry the weapons that I carried in war.’ And I’m thinking to myself, well, when did you go to war? What weapon did you carry in the war, Tim, because apparently you skipped out on your unit before they went to Iraq,” Vance added.

Walz has acknowledged that he never saw combat during his 24 years in the Army National Guard. His deployments included Italy in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and Norway for NATO training exercises. Despite these assignments, he has faced accusations of embellishing his military career.

Retired Command Sergeants Major Thomas Behrends and Paul Herr wrote a letter in 2018 alleging that Walz “embellished and selectively omitted facts and circumstances of his military career for years.” They claimed Walz reenlisted for six years in 2001 and was promoted to Command Sergeant Major in 2004. However, when the battalion received orders to prepare for deployment to Iraq, Walz retired, leaving his unit without its senior Non-Commissioned Officer.

The controversy surrounding Walz’s military service has added to the scrutiny of the Harris-Walz ticket as the 2024 election approaches. Vance’s comments have intensified the debate over Walz’s record and his qualifications for the vice presidency.