In this interview, MAJ Jeremy McHugh, US Army, Military Intelligence, discusses his deployment to Iraq as the personnel officer and then as a mortar infantry platoon leader for 4th ID, 2d Brigade, 1st Battalion of the 67th AR regiment in 2003 through 2004 in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF). MAJ McHugh talks about his missions of tracking combat power and then providing counter fire, patrolling, operating traffic control points, and conducting raids. He describes the casualties his unit suffered and how that affected morale in his unit. He discusses some challenges he faced and shares some issues with logistical support early on. He discuss some of the projects his unit worked on and discusses the handoff to the incoming brigade. MAJ McHugh closes his interview by stating, "The most significant was probably knowing what we were doing and being prepared for the long-term commitment. We do a much better job of that now, in looking beyond the phase 3 or the major combat into the stabilizing after the fact. I don't think you can ever have too much knowledge or information about the operational environment that you are going into. The people, the culture, the language, everything from the idiosyncrasies of how do people get things done, to the way that the environment physically operates."

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