Major Paul Berg was serving as the company commander for Headquarters and Headquarters Company (HHC), 9-101 Aviation Battalion, a Blackhawk battalion, when he was notified in late 2002 of his deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF). Berg knew the deployment was inevitable, so his company completed inspections to better prepare their equipment. Berg prepared his company physically by organizing road marches in MOPP-IV and cross-training soldiers on weapons, familiarly and the ability to drive every vehicle. When Berg was assigned as company commander upon his return from Afghanistan, he did not waste any time preparing his new company for their impending deployment. The HHC consisted mostly of ground vehicles, so there was not the need to pack and ship aircraft. In March 2003, the company joined the 101st in Kuwait at Camp Thunder. The company received all their personal equipment from the staging area in Kuwait City and equipment and Humvees once they were unloaded from the ship. While in Kuwait, the company practiced digging a slit trench in preparation for missile strikes and completed more driver's training. Once the brigade had received all of their equipment, their 80-vehicle convoy drove 29 hours to An Najaf. During the convoy, one vehicle rolled over. However, Berg credits the NCOs as to their response. Within a short period of time of the Humvee flipping, the convoy set up a security detail, the medics pulled the soldiers, to include Berg, out of the Humvee, and the maintenance support hooked up the Humvee to allow the convoy to continue with minimal amount of stop time, which would have made them a prime target. It was seamless. From An Najaf, the convoy drove to Iskandariyah and then to Mosul. The maintenance support continued to play a big part in keeping all of the vehicles operational. The maintenance support successfully determined the cause of the Humvee flipping over and identified two additional Humvees with near sheared bearings. Berg had contact with the locals and used an interpreter to conduct business and buy supplies. With the interaction amongst the locals, the battalion was able to learn more about the Iraqi culture. He and his company experienced their first IED in August or September and were mortared twice. Berg took away the importance of developing his subordinates and listening to their opinions to make a well-informed decision. Berg had amounted six months of dwell time between deployments, which made it hard to spend quality time with his family. However, he believes the deployments have made his marriage and the bond with his family stronger.

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited