Major Ken Lizotte has served on three deployments in support of Global War on Terror. He served two tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan. In this December 2012 interview, MAJ Ken Lizotte, US Army, Aviation; discusses his most recent deployment to Afghanistan as an Aviation officer for 1st Brigade Combat Team (BCT), 4th Infantry Division (ID) in 2010 through 2011 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF). MAJ Lizotte describes his immediate thoughts after arriving into Afghanistan and talks about his mission with locating air assets in preparation for ground and air missions. He describes some difficult challenges with finding the right air assets and adjusting to the rules of engagement. MAJ Lizotte discusses his handoff to the incoming unit as he prepared for redeployment and shares his reintegration experience post-deployment. MAJ Lizotte closes his interview by stating a lesson learned, "You want to be efficient and know where all of your assets are at [in theater] so you can move them around and do what you had to do with them. But, you also have to do it with the purpose of being safe so that you're not running into each other or running into something that is firing."

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited