How long were Pete Hegseth’s deployments and what units was he assigned to?

1. Deployments spelled out: Guantánamo, Iraq, Afghanistan

Multiple biographies and profiles list three deployments: an early tour at Guantánamo Bay with his New Jersey Army National Guard unit (2004–2005), a subsequent Iraq deployment with the 3rd Brigade, 101st Airborne Division to Baghdad and Samarra during the 2005–2006 rotation, and a later Afghanistan deployment in which he served as a senior counterinsurgency instructor in Kabul in 2011–2012 ^{[1] [2] [3] [4]}.

2. Units and roles in Iraq: 3rd Brigade, 101st Airborne — infantry platoon leader and CMO

Reporting and official materials identify Hegseth’s Iraq assignment as part of the 3rd Brigade, 101st Airborne Division. He served as an infantry platoon leader in Baghdad in 2005 and — toward the end of that tour — as a civil‑military operations (CMO) officer in Samarra in 2006 ^{[1] [2]}. These are cited in Ballotpedia and his committee biography summaries ^{[1] [2]}.

3. Guantánamo Bay: National Guard detainee‑operations assignment

Sources consistently show his first deployment was to Guantánamo Bay with his National Guard unit in 2004–2005. That assignment is described as a yearlong service at Joint Task Force Guantánamo (JTF‑GTMO) performing infantry/security duties tied to detention operations ^{[1] [2] [3]}.

4. Afghanistan: counterinsurgency instructor in Kabul (2011–2012)

Hegseth’s most recent deployment, per his biographies and advocacy group profiles, was with the Minnesota Army National Guard to Afghanistan in 2011–2012, where he was the senior counterinsurgency instructor at the Counterinsurgency Training Center in Kabul ^{[3] [5] [4]}.

5. Rank and service component context

The reporting locates Hegseth within the Army National Guard (Minnesota and earlier New Jersey elements) and shows he rose to company‑grade officer ranks during these deployments — serving as a second lieutenant at Guantánamo, first lieutenant in Iraq, and later as a captain during the Afghanistan assignment ^{[2] [1]}. The Defense Department biography also frames him as a National Guard‑commissioned infantry officer ^[6].

6. Awards and combat recognition noted by sources

Profiles reference combat awards tied to those deployments — including Bronze Stars and a Combat Infantryman’s Badge cited in multiple summaries — though the exact citations and dates of each award are summarized rather than fully documented in the provided sources ^{[4] [5]}.

7. Points of agreement and gaps in reporting

Across the collection of sources there is broad agreement on three deployments (Guantánamo, Iraq, Afghanistan) and on the Iraq unit (3rd Brigade, 101st Airborne). Some sources give specific years (2004–2005, 2005–2006, 2011–2012) while others summarize simply “three deployments” without dates ^{[1] [2] [3] [4]}. Available sources do not mention precise tour lengths in months beyond the year ranges cited, nor do they provide unit‑level paperwork or after‑action reports to independently verify award dates (not found in current reporting).

8. What to watch when sources diverge or are incomplete

When biographies, media profiles and organizational pages all repeat the same core claims, that generates confidence about the broad outline; but the absence of primary service records in the provided material means finer details (exact start/end dates, orders, or award documents) remain unverified by these sources (not found in current reporting). Official Defense Department and DoD biography pages corroborate the National Guard commission and the three deployment locations, strengthening the basic timeline ^{[6] [7]}.

Bottom line: the assembled, sourced record in the provided reporting shows Hegseth deployed three times — Guantánamo Bay (2004–05), Iraq with the 3rd Brigade, 101st Airborne (2005–06) including roles in Baghdad and Samarra, and Afghanistan as a senior counterinsurgency instructor (2011–12) — and served in National Guard infantry officer roles through those tours ^{[1] [2] [3] [4] [6]}.