A former Army National Guard major who led two political advocacy organizations was tapped to “almost impossible work” of the US Secretary of Defense.

President-elect Donald Trump announced On Tuesday, he plans to nominate Pete Hegseth, 44, to be the first Pentagon chief in his second term. Hegseth, host of “Fox & Friends Weekend,” served in Afghanistan and Iraq, receiving the Combat Infantryman’s Badge. In civilian life, he advocated for the privatization of veterans’ health care and wrote books arguing that diversity initiatives weakened the military.

The announcement followed a flurry of people talking about Trump’s intended national security team, including the former Director of National Intelligence. John Ratcliffe to run the Central Intelligence Agency, the governor of South Dakota. Kristi Noem to lead the Department of Homeland Security, and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee to be ambassador to Israel. If Trump formally files his nominations after he is inaugurated, he would need Senate confirmation.

Hegseth has “excellent experience as a junior officer, but he lacks the national security experience that secretaries need,” Mark Cancian, senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. said Associated Press.

After graduating from Princeton University in 2003, Hegseth took a job at investment bank Bear Stearns and a commission in the Minnesota National Guard. He led an infantry platoon at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, then served as a platoon commander in Baghdad and a civil-military operations officer in Samarra, Iraq.

By 2007, Hegseth had joined Vets for Freedom, a political advocacy group that, as NPR Put L“supports current US policy in Iraq and promotes continuation of the war until ‘victory'”. He became later executive director and served with the group until 2012, according to LinkedIn page.

In 2011 and 2012, he deployed to Afghanistan for 10 months with the Minnesota Guard, serving as senior instructor at the Afghanistan Counterinsurgency Training Center at Camp Julien in Kabul.

In 2012, he helped found a political action committee, MN PAC, which was RECORDED for spending a third of his $15,000 funds on Christmas parties for family and friends.

From 2012 to 2015, Hegseth was CEO of Concerned Veterans for America, an advocacy group funded by The Koch Brothers Network; among them top priorities privatized Veterans Administration health care.

Hegseth became the Fox contributor in 2014, and a co-host by FOX & Friends Weekend two years later. During the 2016 Republican presidential primaries, he support Marco Rubio, then Ted Cruz, and finally became a vocal supporter of Trump, which he I came to know during the candidate’s frequent appearances on his show.

When reports surfaced that the new 45th president was considering Hegseth as Secretary of Veterans Affairs, the largest veterans groups in the nation. rose into intense opposition and sank the idea.

When Trump’s first VA secretary left later in 2018, Hegseth was again considered for the job. But news of his second acrimonious divorce — two years after he argued in a book that “family policy” should focus on “preventing the divorce of parents with children” — and nepotism at his advocacy group. BROKEN just as Trump was taking fire for him rumored infidelities and family members in roles from the White House.

In 2019, Hegseth successfully lobbied Trump will pardon three soldiers convicted or accused of war crimes in Afghanistan and Iraq. It was also temporary forbidden on Twitter after posting the manifesto of the Saudi Air Force student who killed three and injured eight more in a terrorist attack at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida. Hegseth said he wanted to expose the shooter’s Islamist ideology; Twitter officials said posting the manifesto violated their content standards.

This year, Hegseth – a long-talked about “revival” in the military – released his fourth book: The War Against the Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the People Who Make Us Free. In an interview posted on YouTube last week, he said he was among a dozen National Guard members who had been removed from security duties related to the inauguration of President Joe Biden after the FBI’s vetting. He too said that putting women in combat roles “hasn’t made us more effective, it hasn’t made us more lethal, it’s made combat more complicated.”

Trump’s first term as president has been notable for turnover at the Defense Department’s top job. Only Jim Mattis and Mark Esper lasted more than a year, and three other men served as SecDef.

“I think Trump got tired of fighting with his defense secretaries and picked one who was loyal to him,” Cancian told the AP, adding that Hegseth’s lack of experience could hinder his path to Senate confirmation.