Right before Operation Iraqi Freedom kicked off in March 2003, Major Michael Scarpulla had been serving for the past 14 months as the assistant operations officer (S3) for the Ranger Training Brigade. As he explained, though, "I had the opportunity to leave very quickly to go to 3rd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division that was already deployed in Kuwait prior to OIF I. I got to my battalion - 1st Battalion, 30th Infantry - the night before we crossed the berm. About eight hours before we crossed the berm, I arrived at the battalion headquarters and was met by the battalion XO." Scarpulla was assigned initially as the battalion assistant S3 and then, for a time, served as the S3 until he redeployed in July 2003. In this first of two interviews - the second covering his OIF III deployment - Scarpulla begins by discussing the breaching operation on Tallil Airfield and the securing of the site afterwards, and then moves into the battalion's movements to As Samawah, Karbala and ultimately Baghdad where they took Objective Smith and then conducted security operations in the Iraqi capital's western and southwestern areas. Scarpulla talks about a variety of support issues, including logistics, intelligence and interpreters; describes the nature of his contact with Iraqi civilians and the guidance his battalion variously received from higher regarding the conduct of stability and support operations; and also shares his views on the environment and living conditions in Iraq. In closing, Scarpulla speaks to the biggest challenges he faced as a battalion assistant S3, the most important lessons learned he took away from this OIF I deployment, as well as the relief in place and redeployment processes.

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