In this January 2011 interview MAJ Casey Haines, Medical Service Corps (MSC), discusses is 2007-2008 deployment to Balad Iraq with the 412th Aviation Support Battalion (ASB), 12th Combat Aviation Brigade (CAB). Initially slated to report as the medical logistics officer and operations officer for the brigade, MAJ Haines hastily went through individual deployment training and arrived in theater only to discover that he had to basically carve out his own job since it was a new position in the unit. After six months in this position MAJ Haines was offered a second company command and served the remainder of his 15-month tour as the Headquarters and Service Company (HSC) commander for the 412th ASB. With Soldiers posted at many locations throughout Iraq, MAJ Haines describes a typical day for him and what roles his Soldiers were serving in at the various locations. MAJ Haines concludes his interviewing by stating that being the commander of a headquarters company is difficult because of the higher ranking individuals normally associated with a HSC. His advice is that although every issue you face as a HSC commander may pose a different dynamic or challenge learn who you can count on to get results and who you can go to when you need to leverage certain angles.

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