From December 2001 through June 2003, Major Christopher Carter commanded Alpha Company, 3-7 Infantry. During this time, he deployed to Kuwait with his company, participated in Operation Iraqi Freedom beginning in March 2003 and, in this interview, begins by describing his training efforts prior to the operation as well as some of the successes borne out from this work during the eventual conduct of the major ground offensive. Carter specially noted his "hasty planning process" and recalled his intent to train soldiers to plan with limited time. "I had a feeling that this is what we'd experience in combat," he explained, "so I was willing to take a little hit during the training exercises in Kuwait in order to improve the planning capabilities of a company in combat." Carter also described his unit's movement into Iraq and, specifically, into Al Hindiyah to seize the bridge over the Euphrates River at Objective Murray. (In fact, during this specific operation, he would win the Silver Star for the rescue under fire of a civilian Iraqi woman trapped on the bridge.) Carter attributed much of the successes that his company achieved to the excellent physical and mental conditioning of the soldiers and their mindset for high-intensity combat. As a result, when improvised explosive devices began to appear in his unit’s area of operations, his soldiers were well prepared to recognize and address the threat. Carter concluded the interview with an acknowledgment that “the best thing about [his experience in OIF] was just being the commander of a company of … highly-motivated and disciplined soldiers and … having the satisfaction of leading them through combat operations without losing a soldier.”

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