After years of overseeing grade school students as a small-town elementary school principal, Staff Sergeant Rod Moyer was notified in early August 2004 that his 891st Engineer Battalion, Kansas National Guard, was being deployed to Iraq. The unit left for Kuwait on 3 January 2005 and convoyed to a camp in southern Iraq where Moyer was stationed at the time of this interview. For security reasons, Moyer did not want to disclose the camp location or specific battalion tasks. He did, however, say that he was serving as a battle captain and also as a Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Non-Commissioned Officer. Specifically in this interview, he shares his impressions of Iraq, personal changes that have affected him since deployment, re-enlistment incentives and visits to Iraqi sites of historical and cultural significance. Additionally, with respect to the issues of leadership and management, Moyer compares and contrasts his current military position to the one he has in civilian life. Upon return in December 2005, press articles reported that the 891st, which consisted of nearly 500 soldiers, guarded 200 convoys traveling 40,000 miles across the country during its nearly year-long deployment in support of Operation IRAQI FREEDOM. Also, in one five-day period, these Kansas soldiers cleared 300 roadside bombs from Route Tampa south of Mosul.

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