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Newly elected Democratic vice presidential candidate and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz is facing scrutiny over his military service. Critics, including his Republican rival, Senator JD Vance, accuse Walz of falsely claiming he had served in combat while serving as an Army reservist.

This is not the first time that Walz has faced such criticism.

A CNN KFile review shows that similar allegations were made in 2006, when Walz first ran for Congress. That year, in several letters to his local newspaper in Mankato, Minnesota, he was accused of making misleading statements about his military service, including whether he served in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Walz considered the allegations so serious that he personally responded to both.

At issue was a selection of political ads and statements on Walz’s website describing his military service overseas. While they described Walz as having served overseas in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, they failed to mention that he had done so while serving in Italy, not Afghanistan.

In other statements and interviews with the media in 2006, Walz was more specific. For example, he said that he was transferred to Italy and not to Afghanistan “by chance.”

The recent scrutiny of Walz’s military service was renewed after the Harris campaign released a video in which Walz discussed his decision to change his position and support an assault weapons ban after the 2018 Parkland shooting. In the video, Walz states, “We can make sure that these weapons of war that I carried in war are the only place where those weapons are.”

In 2006, Walz put a lot of emphasis on his image as a soldier, focusing on his military service and teaching to portray him as an everyman. However, Walz never explicitly said he had been deployed in combat.

Walz’s official 2006 campaign biography stated, “Prior to his retirement, Walz served overseas with his battalion in support of Operation Enduring Freedom,” and he was prominently featured in military uniform on the front page of his website.

A television ad featured Walz as “the soldier who served two decades but was ready when they attacked,” and a newspaper front page featured a picture of the burning Twin Towers.

The ad said he was a “command sergeant major who retired four years late after a deployment in support of the war in Afghanistan.” Above an image of a newspaper article with the headline “Troops Welcome Home” was a photo of Walz saluting his local newspaper, the New Ulm Journal.

In another ad, he attacked his opponent for not voting for pay raises for soldiers but for voting for a pay raise for members of Congress.

“When we were deployed, many in my unit had to accept a pay cut,” Walz said in another ad. “He gives himself a pay raise, but he tells the soldiers no.”

On his official website, he has been mentioned in endorsements by retired General Wesley Clark and former Senator John Kerry, among others, who note his military experience.

Walz was deployed to Europe between 2003 and 2004 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, but he was never deployed to Afghanistan, where the operation took place.

In 2006, the campaign team’s description of Walz’s service sparked fierce opposition in several letters to the editor.

In a letter to the editor of his local newspaper, it was said that the wording of the Walz campaign suggested a deployment in Iraq or Afghanistan.

“It strongly suggests he fought in Iraq or Afghanistan, but it does not say which country,” says the July 2006 letter, archived online here. “Because the information is not classified, Walz can tell voters where he was deployed in Iraq or Afghanistan and when his BOG (Bomber on the Ground) missions occurred. If Walz was not deployed, he should say so.”

The letter triggered a series of letters of support for Walz.

“I was wondering when Republicans would start ‘targeting’ Tim Walz,” one said. “Tim Walz has never lied about his service. I’ve heard him speak several times, and he always explains that the battalion he leads was sent to Italy during Operation Enduring Freedom to support U.S. troops fighting in Afghanistan.”

Walz himself answered.

“On Saturday, the Free Press printed a letter implying that I had whitewashed my military service. The details of my service are readily available in numerous articles in the Free Press and other newspapers, so I must assume that the letter is intended to bring my good name into disrepute,” Walz wrote.

“For the sake of completeness, I served in the Army National Guard for 24 years and retired as a Command Sergeant Major in May 2005. I participated in three NATO training missions in the Arctic and deployed to Italy in support of Operation Enduring Freedom from 2003 to 2004,” he said.

“It is not appropriate in this debate to use innuendo to defame a candidate’s character,” he added. “This nation must improve, because we have too many important problems to do less.”

One of those who wrote a letter in support of Walz was Sergeant Ryan Marti, a former member of Walz’s battery who was stationed in Iraq at the time. Marti said members of his unit have been very supportive and are happy that Walz is running for Congress.

“In 2003, we were stationed in Italy at the beginning of the Iraq invasion,” Marti told CNN. “I think he served there since he was 17 when he joined. … An opportunity arose to do something bigger that he never planned for. Nobody in the unit felt bad about it. I mean, many of us were extremely happy, and many of the teachers at the school were happy.”

Walz aptly described his ministry in an interview with the Minneapolis-St. Paul City Pages in June 2006.

“I was on Operation Enduring Freedom for 10 months and I happened to be deployed to Italy. Originally it was Turkey or Iraq, but then it was changed to Enduring Freedom and I said, ‘This is Afghanistan.’ But they said, ‘You guys are going to take over the supply lines between Turkey and England.’ We secured the entire base and took over the training of the incoming soldiers,” he said.

In November 2006, the same accusation was made against Walz.

“By clever omission, Walz creates the impression that he served in the combat zones of the current conflict,” said another letter to the editor in a local newspaper in November 2006. “The truth is that he served in Italy. There is a significant difference between Walz’s garrison duty in Italy and the extreme danger faced by young men and women in the combat zones of Iraq and Afghanistan.”

Walz answered again.

“I am writing in response to Tom Hagen’s lies about my military service,” Walz wrote at the time. “My bio on my official campaign website simply states: ‘Before retiring, Walz served overseas with his battalion in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.'”

“From this, Mr. Hagen derives the ridiculous claim that I am misleading voters by saying I fought in Iraq. After serving 20 years, I re-enlisted after 9/11 to serve our country for another four years and retired a year before my battalion was sent to Iraq to run for Congress,” he added.

“I am proud of the 24 years I served our country in the Army National Guard. There is a code of honor among those who have served, and usually this type of partisan attack only comes from someone who has never worn a uniform,” he added. “Mr. Hagen, if you are unclear about my service, you could have checked my website or simply had the decency to call me and ask. When you dishonor one veteran, you dishonor all soldiers and veterans. You owe an apology to all who serve honorably.”

CNN’s Danya Gainor and Allison Gordon contributed to this report.