A veteran of two deployments in support of Operation IRAQI FREEDOM, from March to August 2003 Captain Craig Stucker initially served as the personnel officer for 3rd Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment (part of 1st Brigade, 101st Airborne Division) and then later, from January 2005 to January 2006, as first the assistant operations officer and then Bravo Company commander for 1st Battalion, 64th Armor Regiment. In this interview, focusing on the latter deployment, Stucker discusses the full spectrum of operations his unit conducted while based in an exceptionally poor area of east Baghdad, everything from stability and security efforts to combating the principal insurgent threats. "In our case," he said, "we felt that the interstates were the real battlefields we were fighting on. It would be very easy," Stucker explained, "for discreet, small, five-man teams that were highly trained to operate freely amid the chaotic daily schedule of rush hour traffic" - which indeed they did. "We always felt they were very few in number, which would not support a large insurgency theory. It was much more likely that there were just highly trained individuals, good at what they’re doing, and just able to blend in with the population there.” In addition, Stucker discusses the challenges posed by training Iraqi security forces, the rampant corruption he saw, and what resulted from the Iraqis having their freedom but not yet knowing “what to do with it.” He also talks about a variety of soldier issues that arose during an entire year of sustained combat: “Driving around every day and facing the constant possibility of getting blown up wears on your nerves more than it would if you were in a firefight,” Stucker said. “It just wears you down.” His main takeaway, though, was “the resolve and the willingness of soldiers to serve under leaders they trust.”

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