Exclusive | Veterans who served with Trump Defense pick Pete Hegseth in combat rave about his brains and valor: Breathes the military

Two decades ago, while the insurgency was raging in Iraq, an Army commander of Charlie Company, 3rd Battalion of the 187th Infantry Regiment, which was gearing up for a deployment, got an unusual request.Pete Hegseth, a National Guard officer at the time, was seeking to go on their mission.“I had never heard of anybody — before or since then — volunteering to serve as an infantryman, especially as a platoon leader, going to Iraq in like 2005,” Sgt.Maj.

Eric Geressy, who served on that team, recounted in an exclusive interview with The Post on Wednesday.Upon first glance, Geressy was also skeptical.Hegseth had shown up just three weeks prior to heading overseas.

His Princeton grad’s pedigree and work as an equity capital markets analyst at Bear Stearns also gave Geressy pause.They were heading into a very dangerous mission where bullets would be flying — a far cry from his investment background.“I was rough on him,” Geressy recalled.

“He was very good.He took everybody’s input immediately … very eager to learn, listen, open-minded and a very critical thinker.”He would go on to win the Bronze Star Medal, second Army Commendation Medal and Combat Infantryman Badge for his service in Iraq.Geressy said how Hegseth put “the troops first” and would usually be the “first one through the door” during key missions.

Now Hegseth, 44, is gearing up for an even bolder move, potentially leading every military service branch as head of the Pentagon.Geressy was “fully surprised” to learn that President-elect Donald Trump had tapped his former foxhole buddy to helm the Defense Department — an unorthodox pick that had caught most observers off-guard — but hailed him as a “great selection.”“He breathes the military.That’s all he talks about,” Geressy reflected.

“Pete’s extremely smart.He’s very articulate, he’s a critical thinker, and he’s going to learn from the experts and get a lot of good information from folks.”�...