Retired Army Command Sergeant Major Doug Julin confirmed on Friday that Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who is now the Democratic vice-presidential candidate, was aware months in advance of his impending deployment to Iraq, even before he decided to retire and avoid the deployment.

Julin also stated that Walz had previously assured him, as the command sergeant major of his battalion, that he would lead the battalion into Iraq. However, Julin later discovered that Walz circumvented him by going two levels above to secure his retirement approval before the deployment took place.

“Tim Walz knew the process and procedures. He went around me and above and beyond me, and basically went to get somebody to back him to get him out of there without … it was just a backdoor process that he handled against me,” Julin said.

Julin claimed that Walz bypassed him, anticipating that he might refuse the request to retire, and told him, “No, it’s too late, you’re moving ahead.”

Julin also mentioned that even though the official deployment orders were issued later, Walz was aware well in advance that he would be deployed.

“Well, people say he never knew he was going foward [to Iraq]. Yeah, he knew he was going forward. Had he gotten his orders yet? No, at that time, he had not.”

Julin mentioned that the division received a warning order, which serves as a preliminary notice before an official deployment order is issued. He recalled speaking with Walz the following month, where Walz reaffirmed his commitment to leading his battalion into Iraq.

Julin stated that in March or possibly April of 2005, they had another meeting at Camp Ripley. During this meeting, which Walz attended, they discussed the upcoming deployment, and everyone was present for the discussion.

“After the meeting, Tim Walz came in and sat down with me because I talked to him before, and I said I need to know what his answer is at that time. He came in, we sat and talked, he told me, he says, ‘I have not been nominated, I’m going forward with the battalion.’ I said, ‘Good. Let’s go. We got the team built, and we’re starting to build the team out there,’” Julin said.

Julin recounted that at their next meeting in June 2005, he discovered that Walz was absent and had been replaced by Command Sergeant Major Tom Behrends. It was at that point he realized that Walz had “quit.”

“The individual that approved this was two levels higher than myself in the enlisted corps, and should have had Tim Walz come back to me and discuss this as to why he was not going forward now, after he had already told me he was going forward,” Julin said.