A geography instructor at West Point, Major Brian Doyle deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in June 2005 on a two-month mission to advise the National Military Academy of Afghanistan "on how to begin a curriculum in geography." "They...
A KC-135 maintenance commander with the 379th Air Expeditionary Wing, Major George Unsinger deployed from Grand Forks Air Force Base, North Dakota, in August 2002 and spent the next three months supporting Operation ENDURING FREEDOM, located...
A long-time veteran of the civil affairs (CA) community - including overseas deployments with the Army's only active duty CA unit, the 96th Civil Affairs Battalion (Airborne) - Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Haack shares a wealth of insights in this...
A longtime member of Special Forces, Master Sergeant Michael D. Coker deployed with 2nd Battalion, 19th Special Forces Group (Airborne), US Army National Guard, in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in 2001-2002. Based initially in Uzbekistan,...
A medical evacuation officer by trade, Major Michael Pouncey was tasked, as an individual augmentee, to fill a medical information manager position - his secondary area of concentration - with the 109th Area Support Medical Battalion, an Army...
A member of 2nd Squad, 4th Platoon, 617th Military Police Company - a Kentucky National Guard unit - Sergeant Jesse Ordunez, in this interview, shares his experiences regarding a complex 20 March 2005 enemy ambush southeast of Baghdad, Iraq, that...
A member of the 10-man advisor support team attached to the 6th Battalion, Iraqi Army, Major Mike Sullivan provided advisory and training assistance to two rifle companies and the headquarters company from April to August 2004. Standing up this...
A member of the 550th Special Operations Squadron (SOS), a training unit based out of Kirtland Air Force Base, Major David Diehl deployed to Incirlik, Turkey, from November to December 2001 as part of a crew of instructors tasked with flying...
A member of the 66th Expeditionary Rescue Squadron and an HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopter pilot, US Air Force Major Dirk Johnson deployed to Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, as part of Operation Enduring Freedom from May to September 2002, serving as the...
A member of the 98th Division (Institutional Training) command and control (C2) cell, Brigadier General Frank Cipolla deployed to Iraq in mid 2004 in advance of the rest of the unit for its training and advisory mission with the new Iraqi Army. Of...
A Missouri National Guardsman, Major Michael Kitchens served with the 40-member 135th Rear Operations Center at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, for 10 months, beginning in May 2003. In his force protection unit, Kitchens monitored and analyzed intelligence...
A newly promoted lieutenant colonel when his Army Reserve unit - the 489th Civil Affairs (CA) Battalion, based in Knoxville, Tennessee - was tapped for service in Afghanistan, Colonel Don Amburn deployed in early 2002 and, once in country,...
A patient administration officer in peacetime, concerned with things like medical records, admissions and dispositions, during a deployment phase Major Raquel Ernest is a medical regulating officer and, as such, she explained, "My role is to...
A physician, onetime chief of staff to the former Afghan king, Mohammad Zahir Shah, and current national security advisor for the nation of Afghanistan, Dr. Zalmai Rassoul discusses a variety of topics related both to his country's present and its...
A project engineer with the US Army Corps of Engineers, Major Torrey Diciro reported to Bahrain in February 2002 on an unaccompanied tour where "they had me punching out buildings and basically making sure the contractor gave us what we specified...
A psychological operations detachment commander with 5th Battalion, 4th PSYOP Group from October 2004 through July 2005, Major Dale Russell was in charge of the PSYOP support element for the Joint Special Operations Task Force-Philippines, part of...
A recent addition to 2nd Battalion, 2nd Infantry Regiment as the onset of Operation Phantom Fury (Al Fajr) neared, Captain Christopher Lacour served as the assistant fire support officer during this decisive November 2004 urban fight to retake the...
A Regular Army signal officer assigned to the 42nd Infantry Division in Iraq from October 2004 to November 2005, Major Rodney Penny augmented the headquarters of the first National Guard division "to be called onto active duty to command and...
A reservist serving with the 98th Division (Institutional Training), Colonel Todd Arnold was commander of the division rear in 2004-2005 while elements of the unit were deployed to Iraq. In this interview, he provides a great deal of detail...
A reservist serving with the 98th Division (Institutional Training), Lieutenant Colonel Antonio L. Morales was mobilized and deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2004 and 2005. Normally assigned as a schools officer with the...