Major John Cole served as the commander of Service Battery, 1st Battalion, 41st Field Artillery - part of 1st Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division - during the initial offensive of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) in 2003. In this interview, Cole beings by saying that his unit deployed to the National Training Center at the end of 2002, using it as a train-up for OIF. "One of the things I noticed that was unique was that they placed engineer tape along each side of the roads through the central corridor. If you were to drive your vehicle on the other side of the tape, it was considered a mobility kill for the simple fact that the engineer tape was to mimic the road we were to take along Highway 28, " he says. "We were to travel from the marsh area of central Iraq up to about An Najaf. It was considered a mobility kill because you cannot maneuver in the marsh." Cole notes that the .50 caliber ammunition they initially drew in Kuwait was manufactured in 1945, resulting in the damage of a heavy machine gun and the injury of a soldier. As a result of an attack by Iraqi SCUD missiles, they crossed into Iraq wearing mission-oriented protective posture 1 gear. Cole states that when the infamous sandstorm struck, GPS was a must for moving about, saying, "It rained and was very muddy. There was thunder and lightning and the winds were really high, 50 to 60 mph, blowing things down. It was just nasty," but he emphasized that, "The batteries continued to fire missions during this time." He further states that artillery is the only fire support asset which can operate in all types of weather, unlike helicopters or aircraft. He goes on to explain, "We were advancing so far, so fast that we just outran out logistics. At TAA Raiders we were begging, borrowing and stealing to get parts off the disabled vehicles. In fact, that place became the 1st Brigade Combat Team's boneyard," adding that potable water also became more scarce as the campaign continued. Cole does note that his unit was never short of howitzer ammunition. He explains that his biggest challenge during combat operations was keeping track of all of his personnel who, as members of Service Battery, were scattered all over. As lessons learned, Cole says that more weapon cleaning kits are needed because weapons maintenance is so important, and that more and better GPS devices and night vision devices would also have helped. He closes his interview by noting the similarities between the Nazi Party and the Iraqi Ba' ath Party, as well as the flexible nature of relationships in the Middle East.

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited