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Buttigieg began serving in the U.S. Navy Reserve in 2009 and was deployed to Afghanistan in 2014<ref>https://www.axios.com/pete-buttigieg-2020-presidential-election-factsheet-indiana-mayor-020c5afc-c8a2-4691-940c-b271e63306b1.html</ref> for 6 months, having volunteered for an overseas deployment as an intelligence officer and having reached the rank of lieutenant. Buttigieg had previously become acquainted with Afghanistan as a civilian advisor at McKinsey & Company of Chicago and preferred that location as an overseas assignment. Buttigieg served in the Afghanistan Threat Finance Cell (ATFC) in Kabul, placing him in “an imminent danger pay area” from late March to mid-September 2014. He was part of a unit assigned to identify and disrupt terrorist finance networks, mainly a desk job, but he wrote that while he expected to spend the bulk of his time as an intelligence analyst “behind a sophisticated computer terminal in a secure area," he states that he went “outside the wire” 119 times leaving the relative safety of the base as a vehicle commander on convoy security detail in dangerous parts of Kabul as an armed driver. However, apparently, he did not engage in direct combat, which would have earned him a Navy combat ribbon. Military officials state that Buttigieg received standard medals and decorations for a member who served overseas in the war on terror, such as citations for rifle and pistol marksmanship, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the Overseas Service Ribbon, and the Afghanistan Campaign Medal for service in a combat zone.<ref>The Hill, News Communications, Inc.. 05/05/19 [https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/442082-documents-provide-glimpse-into-buttigiegs-military-service Documents provide glimpse into Buttigieg's military service]</ref>  

Buttigieg began serving in the U.S. Navy Reserve in 2009 and was deployed to Afghanistan in 2014<ref>https://www.axios.com/pete-buttigieg-2020-presidential-election-factsheet-indiana-mayor-020c5afc-c8a2-4691-940c-b271e63306b1.html</ref> for 6 months, having volunteered for an overseas deployment as an intelligence officer and having reached the rank of lieutenant. Buttigieg had previously become acquainted with Afghanistan as a civilian advisor at McKinsey & Company of Chicago and preferred that location as an overseas assignment. Buttigieg served in the Afghanistan Threat Finance Cell (ATFC) in Kabul, placing him in “an imminent danger pay area” from late March to mid-September 2014. He was part of a unit assigned to identify and disrupt terrorist finance networks, mainly a desk job, but he wrote that while he expected to spend the bulk of his time as an intelligence analyst “behind a sophisticated computer terminal in a secure area," he states that he went “outside the wire” 119 times leaving the relative safety of the base as a vehicle commander on convoy security detail in dangerous parts of Kabul as an armed driver. However, apparently, he did not engage in direct combat, which would have earned him a Navy combat ribbon. Military officials state that Buttigieg received standard medals and decorations for a member who served overseas in the war on terror, such as citations for rifle and pistol marksmanship, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the Overseas Service Ribbon, and the Afghanistan Campaign Medal for service in a combat zone.<ref>The Hill, News Communications, Inc.. 05/05/19 [https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/442082-documents-provide-glimpse-into-buttigiegs-military-service Documents provide glimpse into Buttigieg's military service]</ref>  

Buttigieg invokes his military service at nearly every campaign stop, using it as both a sword and a shield in his campaigning.<ref>CNN, Turner Broadcasting System, May 17, 2019 [https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/17/politics/buttigieg-military-service-2020/index.html Buttigieg wields his military credentials: 'It's not like I killed Bin Laden,' but it was dangerous]</ref>  

Buttigieg invokes his military service at nearly every campaign stop, using it as both a sword and a shield in his campaigning.<ref>CNN, Turner Broadcasting System, May 17, 2019 [https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/17/politics/buttigieg-military-service-2020/index.html Buttigieg wields his military credentials: 'It's not like I killed Bin Laden,' but it was dangerous]</ref> In 2017, he suggested he would not have joined the military if it were politically damaging.<ref>Lim, Naomi (November 18, 2019). [https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/pete-buttigieg-once-said-there-is-no-way-to-know-whether-hed-have-joined-the-navy-reserve-if-it-were-damaging-politically Pete Buttigieg once said 'there is no way to know' whether he'd have joined the Navy Reserve if it were 'damaging politically']. ''Washington Examiner''. Retrieved November 18, 2019.</ref>

Buttigieg stated that he approached military service ethically and morally by telling himself at the time was that there are cases where violence is necessary in order to prevent greater violence. However, as regards experiencing any injury as a consequence of having been to Afghanistan, he said that it was not from moments when he was afraid of being killed, as much as it was from moments when he may have participated in killing. Over time he began to realize that was the part with which he was having the hardest time coming to terms. He added as regards what people in the military are asked to do, "I don't think we've really reckoned with the moral weight of what we're asking them to do—not just in terms of the physical risks they take but the moral harm that we're asking them to go through."<ref>CNN, Turner Broadcasting System, April 2, 2019 [https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/02/opinions/buttigieg-and-religion-qa-beck/index.html Pete Buttigieg on faith, his marriage and Mike Pence]</ref>

Buttigieg stated that he approached military service ethically and morally by telling himself at the time was that there are cases where violence is necessary in order to prevent greater violence. However, as regards experiencing any injury as a consequence of having been to Afghanistan, he said that it was not from moments when he was afraid of being killed, as much as it was from moments when he may have participated in killing. Over time he began to realize that was the part with which he was having the hardest time coming to terms. He added as regards what people in the military are asked to do, "I don't think we've really reckoned with the moral weight of what we're asking them to do—not just in terms of the physical risks they take but the moral harm that we're asking them to go through."<ref>CNN, Turner Broadcasting System, April 2, 2019 [https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/02/opinions/buttigieg-and-religion-qa-beck/index.html Pete Buttigieg on faith, his marriage and Mike Pence]</ref>