Military journalists, who served in combat zones, unless contientious objectors, carried weapons. Whether or not they carried a weapon, all Soldiers serving in combat zones are considered combat Vets. It used to be that it took seven support Soldiers to support one infantry Soldier in combat, but I don't know what the ratio is today. Support Soldiers found in combat zones include medics, nurses, doctors, medevac pilots, supply, cooks, clerks, graves registration, mechanics, fuel specialists, water and sanitation, communication, explosive ordnance disposal (EOD), engineers, meterologists, cartographers, CHAPLAINS, Chaplain assistants, journalists, etc., etc., etc. Combat arms units include infantry, artillery, and armor. All Soldiers in a combat zone are subject to being attacked and must be able to kill the enemy and break stuff. These days, the front line isn't as defined as it once was.
Governor Walz isn't a combat vet.
He didn't deploy to a combat zone as anything.
He attained the rank of Command Sergeant Major (E-9), but didn't serve two years in grade before retiring, so his retired rank and grade are Master Sergeant/E-8. He is not entitled to use the title Command Sergeant Major in retirement.
His unit did deployment training in preparation for deployment, but IDK if it was routine deployment readiness training that all units do, or if the unit had been alerted to a planned deployment. If the former, the timing of the retirement was fine. However, if the unit had been told of a planned deployment, whether or not a formal alert notice or orders had been received, if he had weenied out by retiring or not pulling back his already-submitted retirement papers, that would have been really uncool because Command Sergeant Majors are pretty key personnel. If this were the case, the unit might have been able to stop his retirement, but the fact that his command allowed him to retire says something about his competence and value to the unit if they knew they were deploying in the not-very-distant future. OTOH, he was National Guard, which has some "different" regulations, so I could be wrong on what he or the unit could have done and when. I've been retired a long time, so I'm sure a lot of active Army stuff has changed, as well.
Stolen valor is serious business and can be prosecuted. The US Stolen Valor Act (2013) criminalizes fraudulent claims of awards and decorations.