Serving in 3rd Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment - part of the 3rd Infantry Division's 1st Brigade Combat Team in Operation IRAQI FREEDOM - Major Charles O'Brien commanded a tank company during (and for roughly one month following) the conclusion of major combat operations. At the helm of Alpha Company, O'Brien discusses in detail what he considers the "decisive point for the brigade," namely the efforts of Task Force 3-69 in breaching the Karbala Gap and crossing the Euphrates River, moves, he said, that allowed "the rest of the division to attack the regime at its center of gravity in Baghdad." "That one day-and-a-half period," he added, "summed up my experience in the Army and my training and everything I had prepared for." In this interview, O'Brien also talks about enemy tactics, the death of Atlantic Monthly reporter Mike Kelly, the intersection of counterinsurgency theories and current Army doctrine, and extensively about his unit's (as well as his personal) conduct of civil-military operations, including developing information operations themes, negotiating with local Iraqi leaders and studying what forms both “national will” and “tribal communities” in order to “understand the impact of our operations on them.” Once the kinetic fight is over, O’Brien observes, soldiers “need to understand that everything they see, hear and do is important for one reason or another.” In these types of stability and support operations, “Everyone’s a scout,” and he offers a number of recommendations for how they could be better conducted.

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