A veteran of two deployments to Iraq - during OIF I and OIF II - Major William Highberger was assigned first to Echo Company, 96th Civil Affairs Battalion, as a civil affairs Alpha Team leader in support of the 75th Ranger Regiment. After the Rangers secured Hadithah Dam, located in western Iraq, Highberger's unit coordinated daily work at the site to ensure an uninterrupted power flow, which he considered one of his most significant missions. Later, while assigned to Delta Company, 96th Civil Affairs, as detachment commander from January to May 2004, Highberger supported 3rd Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group. In addition to helping improve the water situation, his unit rebuilt a radio station and a dozen schools in northwest Iraq. Among the diverse Iraqi ethnic and religious groups he encountered and worked with in the isolated Sinjar Mountain region were Shi'ite and Sunni Muslims, Kurds, Turkamens and a small Christian sect called Yazidis. Indeed, Highberger noted, "The biggest thing was the cultural differences between us and the Iraqis and how to overcome the cultural differences to get things done that we needed to get done.”

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