What military units and roles did Pete Hegseth serve in during his deployments?

1. Service overview: Guard officer with three overseas deployments

Public records and contemporary reporting present Hegseth as a National Guard infantry officer who served from about 2002 through 2021 and deployed three times after 9/11 — to Guantánamo Bay, Iraq and Afghanistan — rising to the rank of major and later moving to the Individual Ready Reserve ^{[1] [4] [3]}.

2. Guantánamo Bay: security platoon duty

Multiple profiles state Hegseth’s first overseas assignment was at Joint Task Force Guantánamo, where his New Jersey Army National Guard unit performed security‑type duties in 2004–2005; news summaries and biographical pages describe that deployment as service “as a security platoon at Guantánamo Bay” ^{[1] [2]}.

3. Iraq: infantry platoon leader and civil‑military work

Reporting and organizational bios say Hegseth deployed to Iraq with the 3rd Brigade of the 101st Airborne Division during the 2005–2006 rotation. Sources name him as an infantry platoon leader in Baghdad in 2005 and later serving in 2006 as a civil‑military operations officer in Samarra ^{[2] [3] [1]}.

4. Afghanistan: counterinsurgency instructor role

Accounts indicate Hegseth returned to active duty and in 2011–2012 deployed to Afghanistan with the Minnesota Army National Guard as a senior counterinsurgency (COIN) instructor at the Counterinsurgency Training Center in Kabul; several profiles and organizational pages emphasize his COIN instructor duties as the Afghanistan assignment ^{[2] [3] [4]}.

5. Decorations and evaluations: Bronze Stars and Combat Infantryman’s Badge

Biographical summaries report that Hegseth was awarded two Bronze Star Medals and received the Combat Infantryman’s Badge, and that past performance evaluations obtained by media praised his leadership during deployments to Guantánamo Bay, Iraq and Afghanistan ^{[1] [5] [2]}.

6. Variations, corroboration and limitations in sources

Sources largely concur on the three deployments and the broad job titles, but granular details differ by outlet: some emphasize platoon‑level infantry leadership and civil‑military duties in Iraq, others highlight the COIN instructor role in Afghanistan or list Guantánamo service more briefly ^{[1] [3] [2]}. Available sources do not mention unit lineages (exact National Guard battalion designations across all deployments) beyond references to the 3rd Brigade, 101st Airborne for Iraq and to state Guard affiliations ^{[3] [1]}.

7. Context and competing perspectives on “combat veteran” framing

Supporters and some military evaluations describe Hegseth as a “battle‑proven” leader with combat awards ^[5]. Critics and some reporting have questioned aspects of his public presentation of service (for example, controversy around uniform displays cited by news coverage), but those critiques in the record focus on presentation or vetting rather than disputing the basic deployment timeline summarized here ^{[6] [1] [5]}.

8. What the record does not say (transparency gaps)

Publicly available bios and media accounts supply job titles and locations but do not provide full documentary roll‑call of unit designators for every deployment or complete after‑action reports; for those specifics, current reporting sources do not mention unit roster documents or deployment orders (available sources do not mention detailed unit lineages beyond those cited) ^{[1] [3]}.

9. Bottom line: agreed facts and where to look next

Contemporary and biographical sources agree Hegseth deployed three times post‑9/11 — Guantánamo (security), Iraq (infantry platoon leader and civil‑military officer) and Afghanistan (senior COIN instructor) — and earned two Bronze Stars and a Combat Infantryman’s Badge ^{[1] [2] [3]}. For documentary verification beyond published biographies and reporting, seek official military personnel records or unit deployment rosters; those specific documents are not cited in the available reporting (available sources do not mention personnel record copies).