From April to August 2003, Major Ed Vedder commanded 1st Battalion, 501st Attack Aviation Regiment's Headquarters and Headquarters Company. An AH-64 Apache helicopter unit part of 4th Brigade, 1st Armored Division, 1-501 normally conducts precision strikes or deep-attack missions and can also perform a variety of reconnaissance and security roles as well. Based at Baghdad International Airport during his time in Iraq, Vedder discusses his principal duties and the challenges he faced as the HHC commander, beginning with the full range of predeployment preparations he made and the deployment process itself. He covers the establishment of a forward rearming/refueling point and an ammunition holding area on BIAP; the recon missions he himself flew in and around the Iraqi capital; convoy operations from Kuwait to Baghdad; his working relationship with the US Air Force and other interagency personnel; interactions with Iraqi civilians; the unit's operational tempo; the importance of family readiness groups; numerous convoys into downtown Baghdad; and combat missions flown in support of ground forces: "If a cordon and search was going on," Vedder explained, "we'd be a portion of that outer cordon using the aircraft for early warning. If vehicles were moving towards that area or if something escaped and broke through one of the cordons, the Apaches could stop them." In addition, he speaks at length on the administrative procedures he enforced and the means by which he went about maintaining accountability over his company's vehicles. Vedder also reflects on a period of time during his battalion's deployment when there were "more Article 15-6 investigations going on than probably operations," recalling the overall negative impact on morale and one investigation in particular that essentially demanded that he "fall on [his] sword."

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