BREAKING: President Trump Taps Fox News Host, U.S. Army Officer Pete Hegseth to Serve as Secretary of Defense
By Space Coast Daily // November 12, 2024
Hegseth served in the U.S. Army and did tours in Guantanamo Bay, Iraq and Afghanistan
President-elect Donald Trump has selected Pete Hegseth as his Secretary of Defense.
“I am honored to announce that I have nominated Pete Hegseth to serve in my Cabinet as The Secretary of Defense. Pete has spent his entire life as a Warrior for the Troops, and for the Country. Pete is tough, smart, and a true believer in America First,” said President Trump.
Hegseth, 44, is a Fox News Channel television host, an Army National Guard officer, and the former executive director of political advocacy groups Vets For Freedom and Concerned Veterans for America.
Hegseth has been active in conservative and Republican politics since his undergraduate days at Princeton University.
After graduating from Princeton in 2003, Hegseth joined Bear Stearns as an equity capital markets analyst and was commissioned as a reserve infantry officer into the U.S. Army National Guard.
In 2004, his unit was called to Guantánamo Bay, where he served as an infantry platoon leader with the Minnesota National Guard. 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.
He returned to active duty in 2012 as a captain. He was deployed to Afghanistan with the Minnesota Army National Guard and acted as a senior counterinsurgency instructor at the Counterinsurgency Training Center in Kabul. Hegseth, a major, currently serves in the Individual Ready Reserve. He has been awarded two Bronze Stars for his service overseas.
Hegseth joined Fox News as a contributor in 2014.
This is a breaking story, stay tuned to Space Coast Daily for updates.
