Pete Hegseth served as an infantry officer in the Army National Guard, with multiple deployments to Guantánamo Bay, Iraq, and Afghanistan, and he rose to the rank of major while earning several combat decorations. His roles included platoon leadership, civil–military operations, and later counterinsurgency instruction, giving him both frontline and training responsibilities in U.S. post‑9/11 wars.

What Did Pete Hegseth Do in the Military?

Core military roles

  • Commissioned infantry officer (Army National Guard)
    After graduating from Princeton in 2003, Hegseth was commissioned as an infantry officer in the Army National Guard rather than in the regular active‑duty Army. He initially served in the Minnesota Army National Guard and later in other Guard components, ultimately reaching the rank of major.
  • Guantánamo Bay deployment
    Early in his career, he deployed to Guantánamo Bay, where he served as an infantry platoon leader responsible for guarding detainees as part of a National Guard unit attached to an active‑duty infantry regiment. This role centered on security operations, detainee supervision, and day‑to‑day leadership of soldiers in a high‑profile detention environment.
  • Iraq War service
    He later volunteered for deployment to Iraq, serving in areas such as Baghdad and Samarra with the 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division. In Iraq he worked first as an infantry platoon leader and then as a civil‑military operations officer, a role that involved coordinating between U.S. forces and local populations and authorities.
  • Afghanistan deployment and instruction
    Hegseth subsequently deployed to Afghanistan, where he served as a senior counterinsurgency instructor at a counterinsurgency training center in Kabul. That position focused more on training and doctrine, teaching units how to operate against insurgent networks and work with local communities.

Rank, service years, and awards

  • Rank and service length
    His Guard service began in 2003 and extended for more than a decade, with sources describing active deployments through at least the early 2010s and subsequent duty in the Individual Ready Reserve and District of Columbia Army National Guard. Over that period he was promoted to major, reflecting a mid‑career officer level with both command and staff responsibilities.
  • Decorations and recognitions
    Publicly reported awards include multiple Bronze Star Medals, the Combat Infantryman Badge, and Army Commendation Medals for his deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. These decorations indicate recognized performance in combat zones and direct participation in ground combat operations.

What he did not do

  • Not a Navy SEAL
    Some online speculation has blurred his exact background, but he did not serve as a Navy SEAL or in other naval special operations units. His career is rooted in the Army National Guard infantry and related assignments, not in SEAL or other special operations pipelines.

Post‑service and why it’s a trending topic

  • From combat zones to public office and media
    After his deployments, Hegseth became known as a television commentator, veterans’ advocate, and later as a senior defense official, roles where he frequently draws on his military experience when discussing war, veterans’ issues, and national security. His prominence in politics and media keeps questions like “what did Pete Hegseth do in the military” circulating in news cycles and forum discussions, especially when his policy positions or public remarks reference his service.

TL;DR: Hegseth served as an Army National Guard infantry officer, leading platoons at Guantánamo Bay and in Iraq and later teaching counterinsurgency in Afghanistan, earning multiple Bronze Stars and attaining the rank of major.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.