Editor’s note: This story was updated with a clarification of the rank Gov. Tim Walz held when he retired from the Minnesota National Guard in 2005. He is a former command sergeant major but reverted back to a master sergeant at the end of his career.

Tim Walz, named Tuesday as the running mate of Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, is the current governor of Minnesota, a former high school teacher, a six-term congressman and a long-tenured veteran of the Army National Guard.

Walz, 60, enlisted in the National Guard on April 8, 1981 at the age of 17. While serving, he held multiple positions within field artillery, including firing battery chief, operations sergeant and first sergeant, and he culminated his career serving as the command sergeant major for the battalion, said Lt. Col. Kristen Augé, the Minnesota National Guard’s state public affairs officer.

Walz retired in 2005 as a master sergeant because “he did not complete additional coursework at the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy,” Augé said. Command sergeants major who don’t complete the Sergeants Major Course revert back to their prior rank, she explained.

In 2006, Walz became the highest ranking enlisted soldier to serve in Congress. He used the office to champion veterans issues, and a decade later rose to become the Democratic minority leader on the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee. Chaired by former Rep. Phil Roe, R-Tenn., the committee was praised widely during President Donald Trump’s administration as a rare example of bipartisanship.

Members of veterans organizations who worked with Walz during that time reacted positively Tuesday to Harris’ choice.

“Gov. Walz is a great choice,” John Rowan, the former president of Vietnam Veterans of America, wrote on Facebook. “He helped Vietnam veterans get the benefits they deserved to take care of their illnesses related to Agent Orange exposure during his tenure.”

Tim Walz, the presumptive Democratic nominee for vice president, is shown visiting constituents at Kandahar Airfield in 2011. (Spc. Amanda Hils/Army).

Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, or IAVA, released a statement Tuesday applauding Harris for choosing a veteran to add to the Democratic ticket.

The group earlier praised the nomination of Walz’ opponent, Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, who served in the Marine Corps from 2003 to 2007 and deployed to Iraq as a combat correspondent.

When Trump chose Vance as his vice president candidate at the Republican National Convention in July, he became the first post-9/11 veteran to be nominated as part of a major-party ticket.

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Both men represent the post-9/11 generation of veterans, as well as those who served in the enlisted ranks, said Allison Jaslow, CEO of the group.

Before Vance and Walz, the most recent veteran on a major-party ticket was John McCain in 2008. They are the first veterans of the enlisted ranks on a presidential ballot since Al Gore in 2000.

“I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: The Post-9/11 generation of veterans is ascendant in America today,” Jaslow said. “We applaud Vice President Harris for heeding our call and choosing a post-9/11 veteran to join her in her candidacy to be commander-in-chief. And notably, someone who served in, and led troops, in the enlisted ranks.”

With the pick, Harris hopes to shore up her campaign’s standing across the upper Midwest, The Associated Press reported. As governor, Walz helped enact an ambitious Democratic agenda in Minnesota, including sweeping protections for abortion rights and generous aid to families.

Conservatives have criticized Walz over his handling of the arson and looting that followed the murder of George Floyd at the hands of a police officer in Minneapolis in 2020.

Walz deployed the National Guard three days after Floyd’s murder, and some Republicans argued that he was too slow to respond.

This story was produced in partnership with Military Veterans in Journalism. Please send tips to MVJ-Tips@militarytimes.com.

Nikki Wentling covers disinformation and extremism for Military Times. She's reported on veterans and military communities for eight years and has also covered technology, politics, health care and crime. Her work has earned multiple honors from the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans, the Arkansas Associated Press Managing Editors and others.

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