Having commanded both a headquarters company and a Blackhawk helicopter company while with 2nd Battalion, 4th Aviation Regiment - part of the 4th Infantry Division - Major James Tenpenny's March 2003 to March 2004 service in Operation IRAQI FREEDOM allowed him to contribute in an operational as well as a supporting capacity. While at the helm of Alpha Company, he was in charge of eight UH-60s and was tasked with general support missions, everything from logistical resupply and mail distribution to air assaults and detainee transportations. "I'd be confident to say," Tenpenny stated, "that at least 50 percent of the high-value targets that 4th ID captured, we transported." What's more, in the war's first six weeks alone, Tenpenny's company flew over 4,000 hours - and did so without a single accident and without losing or having injured a single pilot or crewman. In HHC command, Tenpenny (also a DESERT STORM veteran) conducted over 60 convoys and, in this interview, shares some particularly effective tactics, techniques and procedures he developed that he credits for helping ensure that each one arrived and returned casualty free. He also discusses the extraordinary operational tempo his units contended with, the experiences they had with their adopted Iraqi town and his own insights into the adaptability and resiliency of the American soldier.

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