Left all this out conviently:
Following graduation from Princeton in 2003, Hegseth joined
Bear Stearns as an equity capital markets analyst and was also commissioned as an
infantry officer in the
U.S. Army National Guard.
[11] In 2004 his unit was called to
Guantánamo Bay, where he served as an Infantry
platoon leader with the Minnesota Army National Guard. His unit was under the operational control of the
3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment 101st Airborne Division. He was awarded the
Army Commendation Medal. Shortly after returning from
Cuba, Hegseth volunteered to serve in
Baghdad and
Samarra, where he held the position of infantry platoon leader and, later in
Samarra, as
Civil–Military Operations Officer. During his time in
Iraq, he was awarded the
Bronze Star Medal,
Combat Infantryman Badge, and a second Army Commendation Medal.
[12]
He returned to active duty in 2012 as a captain. He deployed to Afghanistan with the Minnesota Army National Guard and acted as a senior counterinsurgency instructor at the Counterinsurgency Training Center in Kabul.