Which conflicts and locations did Pete Hegseth deploy to while in the National Guard and Army Reserve?

1. Service résumé in one line: Guantánamo Bay, Iraq, Afghanistan

Every official biography and most contemporary reporting summarize Hegseth’s active-duty deployments as including Guantánamo Bay, Iraq and Afghanistan. The Department of Defense and DVIDS biographies list operations in Guantánamo Bay, Iraq and Afghanistan ^{[1] [5]}. Independent outlets and profiles repeat that framing when describing his National Guard and Reserve service ^{[2] [6]}.

2. How many times he deployed: “three times” is the commonly cited figure

Several profiles and organizational biographies state Hegseth deployed three times since 9/11. Britannica and United Against Nuclear Iran both report three deployments, and UANI adds that his most recent tour was as a senior counterinsurgency instructor in Kabul in 2011–2012 ^{[7] [3]}. Other sources echo the “three deployments” summary ^[1].

3. What he did in Guantánamo Bay: detainee guard and early platoon leadership

Profiles say Hegseth served at Guantánamo Bay early in his service as an infantry platoon leader or detainee guard. Biographical summaries and news coverage list Guantánamo as one of his early active-duty assignments after his 2003 commission ^{[6] [2] [8]}.

4. Iraq service: Baghdad and Samarra cited in multiple bios

Reporting and organizational material describe Hegseth’s Iraq service with the 3rd Brigade/101st Airborne Division in 2005–2006, including work as an infantry platoon leader in Baghdad and as a civil‑military operations officer in Samarra ^{[3] [4]}. Several sources say he volunteered for that Iraq tour and list awards tied to that period ^{[9] [3]}.

5. Afghanistan service: counterinsurgency instructor in Kabul

Multiple sources specify that Hegseth’s Afghanistan deployment involved counterinsurgency instruction at a Kabul training center in 2011–2012. UANI and other biographical summaries state he served as the senior counterinsurgency instructor at the Counterinsurgency Training Center in Kabul ^{[3] [2]}.

6. Rank and timing across Guard and Reserve status

Biographies portray Hegseth as an Army National Guard infantry officer commissioned after Princeton who rose to major and moved between active-duty activations, Guard service, and later reserves. Several pieces note periods of service clustered around 2003–2014 and beyond; institutional summaries emphasize repeated active‑duty activations rather than continuous active-service status ^{[5] [7]}.

7. Awards and evaluations cited to support combat experience

Sources point to military commendations and positive evaluations tied to his time in Iraq and Afghanistan; Fox-obtained evaluations and departmental biographies reference Bronze Star, a Combat Infantryman Badge, and glowing performance write‑ups for his actions and instruction in deployed environments ^{[10] [2]}.

8. Areas of reporting consensus and small discrepancies

There is broad agreement that Hegseth deployed to Guantánamo Bay, Iraq and Afghanistan and that he deployed three times; sources vary in granular detail (exact unit names, dates, or number/type of medals). Some profiles emphasize Baghdad and Samarra in Iraq and Kabul in Afghanistan ^{[3] [4]}, while succinct DoD/DVIDS bios list the three locations more generally ^{[1] [5]}.

9. What available sources do not mention or resolve

Available sources do not mention, in a single authoritative roster, a line‑by‑line official Active Duty Orders log with exact start/end dates for each deployment or a consolidated, contemporaneous personnel record released publicly. Where unit assignments, precise dates, or the exact count of medals differ across outlets, the reporting draws on biographies, organizational claims, and media-obtained evaluations rather than a single public military personnel file (not found in current reporting).

10. Bottom line for readers: confirmed theaters, contested details

Readers can take as established by multiple official and media biographies that Hegseth deployed to Guantánamo Bay (Cuba), Iraq (including Baghdad/Samarra in some accounts), and Afghanistan (Kabul counterinsurgency instructor) and that he deployed three times since 9/11 ^{[1] [3] [7]}. Minor discrepancies in unit labels, medal counts, or exact timelines appear across outlets; those finer points are not consistently documented in the cited sources (not found in current reporting).