From June 2004 to June 2005, Major William Kepley was based at Camp As Sayliyah, Qatar, and served as the Army Central Command (ARCENT) Qatar operations officer. In this capacity, while he managed Class V ammunition for all ARCENT-assigned units and tenants, he counted his main mission as being port and convoy security for the reception, staging, onward-movement and integration of broken and battle-damaged vehicles and equipment to and from the Iraq and Afghanistan theaters. Kepley also helped plan the battle handoff of forces into and out of Operation ENDURING FREEDOM (OEF). Equipment would arrive by ship, it would be transferred by truck to the U.S. Air Force base, and then they would fly it to OEF. Kepley also supported the reverse of vehicles and equipment from OEF to home station. Among other topics discussed are his dealings with numerous international and American personalities that worked on the different staffs and operated in the camp, his providing of force protection for the base, living out on the economy of Qatar, as well as his management of the four-day R&R activities for soldiers rotating out of Iraq. As Kepley put it, “that was one of the things we’re most proud of – that soldiers doing the nation’s business at the point of the spear could come back and we could take care of them for four days.”

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