In this first of two interviews, Major Royal Ripley talks about his deployment to Camp Doha, Kuwait, as a member of the communications staff for Combined Forces Land Component Command (CFLCC) from November 2001 through May 2002, and from November 2002 through August 2003 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF). He mentions that he spent most of his time being a representative to Army Central Command headquarters' operational planning group, how their focus shifted over time from Afghanistan to Iraq, how the experience of fighting in Afghanistan was crucial to the level of success achieved in Iraq, and how they had to redeploy to the theater for OIF. Ripley also discusses their interaction with other coalition partners, especially the British, how different American components had very different visions of how OIF should be conducted, and how their final handoff was filled with acrimony. He closes by saying that he had no idea what he was getting into with his first deployment and that he learned more about the Army in one month on the staff than in the 10 years preceding the deployment.

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