During Major John Gregor's January 2004 to January 2005 deployment in support of Operation IRAQI FREEDOM, he served as the signal officer for 2nd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division (Black Jack Brigade). Initially, his brigade headquarters deployed under the 1st Armored Division and then, when 1st CAV Division headquarters arrived in April, they fell back under it, only to be placed under the control of the 1st Marine Division later that October in preparation for Operation Phantom Fury (Al Fajr), the combined-joint assault to retake the city of Fallujah. In this interview, Gregor discusses his unit's conduct of full-spectrum operations in the Baghdad environs and specifically his work restoring and improving communications at Baghdad International Airport, "to get that up and operational to bring aircraft in." He also talks about the communications assistance he gave the Iraqi neighborhood and district advisory councils, his dealings with local Iraqi workers and other contractors, the comms assets he provided to U.S. soldiers, as well as his brigade’s role in Phantom Fury and the significant communications issues they had with the Marines. In addition, Gregor discusses the election support provided in Iraq’s North Babil region and his reflections on the Iraqi civilian populace. “One of the things that American people don’t realize,” he said, “is they’re not a lot different than we are. They want to live in nice neighborhoods, they want to have good jobs, they want to work hard and achieve things. I really found more similarities than differences.”

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