Pete Hegseth is the author of the highly acclaimed new book “In The Arena,” as well as a Fox News Channel contributor, appearing regularly as a correspondent and guest co-host for the network’s morning show, “Fox & Friends.” He also appears frequently on “The Kelly File,” “Outnumbered,” “America’s Newsroom” and “Happening Now.” Pete is also a frequent contributor on FoxNews.com and National Review Online.
Pete is an Army veteran of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and was also a guard at Guantanamo Bay. He holds two Bronze Stars and a Combat Infantryman’s Badge for his time in Iraq and Afghanistan.
In 2012, Captain Hegseth deployed to Afghanistan with the Minnesota Army National Guard where he was the senior counterinsurgency instructor at the Counterinsurgency Training Center in Kabul. Before that, First Lieutenant Hegseth deployed to Iraq with the 3rd Brigade of the 101st Airborne Division for their 2005-2006 tour, serving as an Infantry Platoon Leader in Baghdad in 2005, and as a Civil-Military Operations officer in Samarra in 2006. A year before that, Second Lieutenant Hegseth served in Guantanamo Bay (JTF-GTMO) with his New Jersey Army National Guard unit from 2004-2005. Pete was recently promoted to the rank of Major, and is currently in the Individual Ready Reserve.
Pete is the former CEO of Concerned Veterans for America (2012-2015), where he built the largest conservative veterans advocacy organization in America and led the charge for real reform at the Department of Veterans Affairs. Before that, Pete was the Executive Director of Vets for Freedom (2007-2010), leading the “ground truth” charge for success on the battlefield in Iraq and Afghanistan. He is also a member of the National Rifle Association.
Pete graduated from Princeton University in 2003 with an undergraduate degree in Politics. While at Princeton, Pete was also a member of the varsity basketball team, an Army ROTC cadet and the publisher of the campus conservative publication “The Princeton Tory.” A decade later, Pete completed a Masters in Public Policy at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, graduating in 2013.
Pete and his wife Samantha live in Minnesota and have three young sons ‒ Gunner, Boone and Rex. They attend Eagle Brook Church and proudly send their kids to Liberty Classical Academy.
We hope you will join us at the 20th Annual Phoenix Veterans Day Parade on November 11, 2016, to see Pete Hegseth and the eight other Veteran Grand Marshals. This year’s parade theme is “Welcome Home Vietnam Heroes.” The parade typically boasts more than 100 entries, and this year will have a special float with nearly 20 Vietnam Veterans riding on it. The parade will also feature patriotic floats, high school marching bands, JROTC marching units, color guards, Veterans Service Organizations, animals, novelty units and much, much more.
For more information on the parade and the parade route, click HERE.