The the nomination of Pete Hegsetha Fox News host, former Army National Guard captain and President-elect Donald Trump’s surprise pick for defense secretary has raised concerns about whether he has the hands-on experience to manage a large department with a huge budget.

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Hegseth’s nomination also left many wondering how his experience compares to people who have served before.

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The The Department of Defense has a budget of over $800 billionwith approximately 1.3 million troops on active duty and another 1.4 million in the National Guard, Reserves and civilian employees based around the world.

Fox anchor Pete Hegseth on ‘FOX & Friends’ at Fox News Channel Studios on August 09, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by John Lamparski/Getty Images)

Eric Edelman, who was the Pentagon’s top policy official during the Bush administration, said Political that Trump’s decision likely he weighed loyalty more than experience.

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“(Trump) puts the highest value on loyalty,” Edelman said. “It seems like one of the main criteria that’s being used is how well do people defend Donald Trump on TV?”

Who is Pete Hegseth?

Co-host of Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends Weekend,” Hegseth, 44, has been a contributor to the network for a decade. He is a staunch conservative and a close friend of Trump, and has also written a number of books, including The War on the Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free.

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Pete Hegseth’s Military Experience

Hegseth has served in the military, though he lacks high-ranking military or national security experience.

After graduating from Princeton University in 2003, Hegseth was commissioned as an infantry captain in the Army National Guard, serving overseas in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as at Guantanamo Bay. He was awarded two Bronze Stars and a Combat Infantryman Badge.

Hegseth previously headed Concerned Veterans for America, a group backed by conservative billionaires Charles and David Koch, and also ran unsuccessfully for the Minnesota Senate in 2012. According to his Fox News bio, he has a master’s degree in public policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

How does Pete Hegseth’s military background compare?

If confirmed by the Senate, Hegseth would have by far the least military experience of any defense secretary in recent history. Here’s how his experience compares to those who have previously served in the role.

Lloyd Austin

Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III official portrait session, July 6, 2023. (DoD photo by Chad J. McNeeley)

Current Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin served in the military for 41 years, including command at the corps, division, battalion and brigade levels, according to the Department of Defense. Austin received the Silver Star for leading the Army’s 3rd Infantry Division during the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Seven years later, he was named commanding general of United States Forces – Iraq, overseeing all combat operations in the country.

Austin served a tour as the Army’s deputy chief of staff before ending his uniformed service as commander of U.S. Central Command, responsible for all military operations in the Middle East and Afghanistan. After retiring from the military, Austin served on the boards of Raytheon Technologies, Nucor, and Tenet Healthcare.

Mark Esper

Dr. Acting Secretary of Defense Mark Esper poses for his official portrait in the Army Portrait Studio at the Pentagon in Arlington, Va., June 20, 2019. (U.S. Army photo by Monica King)

Before Austin was sworn in, Mark Esper served as Secretary of Defense from July 2019 to November 9, 2020. Trump fired Esper after he contradicted Trump on several issues. At the time, Esper was considered the least experienced defense secretary in recent memory.

Esper graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1986, according to the Department of Defense. He served in the 101st Airborne Division and the 1990-1991 Gulf War, and later commanded a Rifle Company in Vicenza, Italy.

He retired from the US Army in 2007 after spending 10 years on active duty and 11 years in the National Guard and Army Reserve. While in the military, Esper received the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service, among many other awards and recognitions.

He also worked for former U.S. Senator Chuck Hagel and was a professional staff member of the Senate Foreign Relations and Senate Governmental Affairs Committees, policy director for the House Armed Services Committee, and national security adviser to former leader of Senate Majority Bill Frist. He served as deputy assistant secretary of defense for policy negotiations at the Pentagon under former President George W. Bush.

Esper served as chief operating officer and executive vice president for defense and international affairs at the Aerospace Industries Association from 2006 to 2007. He was Senator Fred Thompson’s national policy director for his 2008 presidential campaign and was a Senate-appointed commissioner on the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission. Before being nominated as secretary of the Army in 2017, Esper was vice president of government relations at Raytheon.

James Mattis

James N. Mattis, the 26th Secretary of Defense, poses for his official portrait in the Army Portrait Studio at the Pentagon in Arlington, Va., Jan. 25, 2017. (U.S. Army photo by Monica King/Released)

Former Defense Secretary James Mattis led the Pentagon under Trump before Esper. He resigned in 2019 after Trump announced he would withdraw US forces from Syria. Like Austin, he served in the military for more than 40 years. Mattis has commanded Marines at all levels, from an infantry rifle platoon to a Marine Expeditionary Force, according to the Pentagon.

He led an infantry battalion in Iraq, an expeditionary brigade in Afghanistan, stability operations in Iraq, and was commander of all US naval forces in the Middle East. He was also Senior Military Assistant to the Deputy Secretary of Defense; Director of Marine Corps Manpower Plans & Policy; Commanding General of the Marine Corps Combat Development Command and as Executive Secretary to the Secretary of Defense.

Mattis also led the US Joint Forces Command, NATO’s Supreme Allied Command Transformation and US Central Command.