What units and deployments did Pete Hegseth serve in while in the Minnesota National Guard?

1. The basic record: three overseas deployments and an infantry commission

Hegseth was commissioned out of Princeton’s ROTC in 2003 as an infantry officer and is repeatedly described as a member of the Army National Guard who deployed three times: to Guantánamo Bay, to Iraq and to Afghanistan ^{[1] [3] [4]}. Multiple profiles list his service as tied to the Minnesota Army National Guard even while reporting that his earliest Guantánamo posting was with a New Jersey unit ^{[1] [2]}.

2. Guantánamo Bay: security duty in 2004–05, unit labeling varies

Contemporary accounts say Hegseth spent roughly 11 months at the Guantánamo detention facility after Fort Benning training (2004–05) performing security‑platoon duties; some items say that tour was carried out with a New Jersey Army National Guard element while others summarize it as part of his early Minnesota National Guard service ^{[1] [2] [5]}. Reporters and encyclopedias consistently state the Guantánamo posting but do not all identify the precise state unit in the same way ^{[2] [3]}.

3. Iraq: infantry platoon leader in Baghdad, civil‑military work in Samarra

Sources report that, after Guantánamo, Hegseth served in Iraq in 2005–06 with the 3rd Brigade of the 101st Airborne Division as an infantry platoon leader in Baghdad and later as a civil‑military operations officer in Samarra ^{[2] [5]}. Profiles presented by Ballotpedia and others provide the most granular unit detail for the Iraq tour ^[2].

4. Afghanistan: counterinsurgency instructor in Kabul

Hegseth returned to active service in 2012 as a captain deployed to Afghanistan where he served as a senior counterinsurgency instructor at the Counterinsurgency Training Center in Kabul, teaching one of the last classes during the U.S. withdrawal period ^{[1] [2] [5]}. Major news profiles emphasize that his Afghanistan role was instructional rather than frontline platoon leadership ^{[3] [4]}.

5. Rank, awards and later status: captain to major, Bronze Stars claimed

Several sources say Hegseth advanced to captain and later major, served in the Individual Ready Reserve, and received awards including two Bronze Stars and a Combat Infantryman’s Badge for service in Iraq and Afghanistan; those service‑decoration claims appear in biographies and advocacy‑group writeups ^{[2] [6] [5]}. Not all sources list identical dates for rank changes or IRR status; Ballotpedia gives a detailed timeline through 2021 ^[2].

6. Areas of disagreement and what reporting does not say

Reporting agrees on the three locations (Guantánamo, Iraq, Afghanistan) but diverges on unit attribution for Guantánamo (New Jersey Guard versus Minnesota Guard) and on granular chain‑of‑command labels for each deployment ^{[1] [2]}. Available sources do not mention certain specifics such as exact company/battery designations for each tour beyond the brigade and platoon labels already cited (not found in current reporting).

7. Context and why the distinctions matter

Unit labels and whether a deployment was under a state National Guard mobilization versus attachment to an active duty brigade shape legal status, command relationships and the nature of duties; different outlets emphasize either Hegseth’s Minnesota Guard identity or the active‑duty formations he rode with in theater, producing the variation summarized above ^{[2] [3]}. Readers should note that advocacy bios sometimes accentuate awards and rank while news outlets stress role type (instructor vs. platoon leader) and the absence of senior‑level military experience ^{[7] [4]}.

8. Bottom line for investigators or readers

If you need a single, source‑backed summary: Hegseth was a Princeton‑commissioned infantry officer who served at Guantánamo Bay in 2004–05, as an infantry platoon leader and civil‑military officer in Iraq (2005–06), and as a senior counterinsurgency instructor in Kabul ; he served in the Minnesota Army National Guard, rose to captain and later major, and is credited with Bronze Stars and a Combat Infantryman’s Badge in multiple biographies ^{[1] [2] [5]}. For unit‑level certainties (company, exact battalion attachments) consult official military personnel records; such granular confirmations are not present in the sources summarized here (not found in current reporting).