With 5th Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division in Iraq from March 2004 to March 2005, Major David Chiarenza initially served as a company commander and then moved to become a brigade battle captain and, as needed, brigade planner and current operations officer. He finished his tour as the brigade assistant operations officer (AS3). Based in southern Baghdad, Chiarenza's unit was engaged in a full-spectrum of missions and, in this interview, he discusses the variety of lethal and non-lethal operations, the "three-block war methodology," the cultural terrain of his area of operations, combating Moqtada al-Sadr's militia, the Iraqi elections of January 2005, as well as detailing a number of specific, and especially deadly, insurgent attacks. In addition, Chiarenza talks at length about the training assistance he helped provide Iraqi security forces and the enormous challenges inherent in the US Army becoming "the instrument for all elements of national power." Because so much of what his unit did in Iraq was "police work," Chiarenza suggests a way the U.S. military can become more adept at conducting future stability and support operations: "If I was a division commander and I knew at least six months out that I was going to Iraq," he said, "I would make every single one of my staff sergeants and above do a couple patrols with a police force. I think it would just pay phenomenal dividends." Chiarenza also discusses the challenge of transitioning a division artillery to a brigade combat team.

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